Point Blank Range
by WinterElle
Summary: In the AU created with Making Amends, Klaus and Milla work through the complications created by combining their lives. For Elena and Elijah, a dark specter looms.
1. Chapter 1

Point Blank Range

Chapter 1

When Klaus didn't get answers that satisfied him, he went in search of truth. But there was a chance, this time, that the ever elusive truth might break his heart.

He and Milla had been together for more than a year and sharing a home for six months. They had just returned from France a week ago after nearly three weeks of leisurely travel. She was bright and happy during the trip. She was just as happy to see her father again on their return. He'd come to understand that she loved to travel, but she loved being home, too. Having a home base seemed sensible, and, of course it should be near her father.

Over the last three days, though, there had been a subtle change in her. Some of the brightness had dimmed in her eyes.

She was gone for hours at a time, which wasn't really unusual. They both had their own business to attend to after having been gone so long. But she was vague about where she'd been and her scent was…different. That was the part that trouble him most. Thinking on it too hard made his stomach clench.

She smelled of solvent and soap, a chemical scent that wasn't unpleasant, but was noticeable with him knowing she preferred florals. When he asked her about it, she shrugged off the question saying she'd used some soap her father had introduced her to. But her answers felt evasive.

Niklaus had the distinct impression there was more to it. And it was a feeling he couldn't shake.

Milla was also worn and tired after her long absences. She had even fallen asleep on the couch the night before. That was something he'd not seen her do since they had first started this thing between them.

He loved her with all he was. To distraction. Milla was his last thought as he fell asleep in her arms and the first thought when he woke. Klaus had spent nearly a millennia searching for what he found with her. And it didn't grow cold and tired. It didn't fade away to boredom like so many relationships up until now….not for him, anyway.

Three days of this uncertain feeling was about all he could stand. It was time for answers.

When she left on the fourth morning, Klaus followed her car with a heavy heart as it navigated the interstate and turned toward an industrial area of Richmond he'd only seen in passing until now. She made several sharp turns and ended up parked in a gravel parking lot behind a large unmarked aluminum sided building. He'd watched quietly while she gathered her things and disappeared behind a nondescript door wearing cutoff jean shorts, athletic shoes and a black tee-shirt.

Folding his arms, he leaned against the outer wall of an abandoned warehouse as he waited quietly. It wasn't clear to him what he was waiting for. Ideally, the best case scenario would have her wandering back out and heading home. The worst case would be that he was waiting for her to get deeply involved in whatever she didn't want him to know about before he made an entrance of his own.

As he waited, he pondered possibilities for why she would be hiding from him. All the roads he travelled in his mind led back to her having found someone else.

His chest ached just at the thought. She was not a dishonest person, would never set out to betray him. But the realistic side of him knew that those things weren't always planned. Passions could erupt as easily as they could grow cold.

He shook his head, realizing his heart was aching for a path where they could survive such a thing together. And he was doing it before he even knew for certain if she'd done the thing he feared.

If she was behind that door with another man, it might kill him. And in a rage, he might in turn kill anyone that stood between him and her. The thought horrified him. So, he stood there for two hours before he forced himself to close the distance. Dark dread made his steps slow and methodical. Shoulders squared with hard resolve, he reached for the handle.

As he opened the door, the smells of industrial cleaners, engine grease and gasoline assailed him. The sharp clang of metal against metal and the rustle of chains filled the air.

A garage.

After a moment, he spotted Milla. She was head first under the hood of an old car, bent at the waist. Beautifully muscular tanned legs and a shapely bottom, with her cutoff blue jean shorts riding up, were on display. It reminded him of an inversion of the heart symbol frequently scrawled across the notebooks of teenage girls. Car parts were organized around her on a tarp on the floor.

She also had an appreciative audience. Four men, all dressed in uniforms, wearing navy blue pants and shirts all stood at varying positions, striving for the best possible view of his girl's hindquarters. He smiled as he decided couldn't blame them.

One of the men was standing close, handing Milla tools as she called for them. This one was roughly the size of a mountain. He stood easily three inches taller than Klaus himself and half again as broad. One massive arm was roped with muscles. The other arm was masked in a sling and a cast that was strapped to his chest. He had dark brown hair and a full dark beard.

Klaus drew in the scents of the entire contents of the building with great care. He could be certain that he and Milla were the only nonhumans present.

He came to a stop ten paces from her and the Mountain turned to meet his eyes. A white label on the man's shirt told Klaus his name was John. Klaus looked Milla up and down pointedly before he met John's green eyes and smiled. John's expression grew to a wide grin and he whistled soundlessly in agreeing appreciation of the view. No one questioned Klaus' presence there, making him sure that Milla had a tendency to draw male spectators.

Klaus tucked his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and finally spoke.

"Quite a spread you have there, love." He said with a smile.

There was a chorus of deep male laughter around the garage. He might have been referring to the car parts skillfully organized on the floor. But he also might have meant the fine display of her rear that everyone was admiring.

Milla froze and jerked her head up at the sound of his voice, slamming it into the opened hood of the car in the process. She was still cursing under her breath and rubbing the back of her head when she stood and met his eyes. Her face was hotly flushed and her golden eyes wide.

"Klaus." She whispered as she took a small step in his direction.

John let out a long, deep booming laugh.

"English here is the boyfriend." John announced in a voice as loud and deep as a mountain should have if it could speak. There was an answering chorus of male groans as men turned back to their work around the garage, disappointed that the show was probably over.

Both labels in John's booming announcement made Klaus smile. He'd been called "English" like it was his name before and the title boyfriend appealed, though she didn't call him that.

When Milla reached him, he carefully touched the spot where she'd hit herself.

"Are you alright?" He whispered at her, still smiling his relief.

She nodded sheepishly. She had black smears of grease covering both hands and scattered up to her elbows. There was a dark smear over one brow. The grease explained the solvent soap he'd smelled before. _This_ was what she'd been doing.

"Are you mad?" She asked quietly, searching his face.

Klaus only smiled and shook his head. The strong grip dread had on him had loosed its hold. He was relieved. Immensely. Her interest was in _a car_.

"What is it you are doing, exactly?" He asked her, his eyes moving again to the old car she'd been immersed in.

"I'm helping John with the engine since he's only got one arm that works right now. It's a long story." She shrugged broadly with her dirty hands. "Dad…" Her words trailed off.

"Your father taught you." Klaus finished for her and she nodded. Klaus knew her father was a skilled mechanic. Evidently she'd spent a great deal of time at her father's garage over the years. She'd never mentioned it.

Klaus took a step forward and pressed his lips to a clean spot on her forehead.

"You do your work and I will see you tonight at home." He winked once at her and watched the tension drain from her.

She was turning back to the car when Klaus slowly moved toward the door and back out it again.

A car. His girl wasn't tangled up someone else. Milla was wrestling a car engine. He shook his head and laughed at himself, his heart light again.

That evening Klaus was sitting on their couch when she stepped in and closed the door behind her. Her steps were slow and cautious as she joined him, sitting in the chair across the room.

He waited, letting the silence speak for him, to see where it would lead.

"You _are_ mad." She said after several minutes.

He turned and met her eyes. "No." He countered. "I am confused."

The ripple between her brows asked her questions for her.

"Why would you avoid telling me about the garage?"

She held up a hand and he could see dark stains on her fingers. Her eyes were on the floor. "Because it's not feminine, or sophisticated. It doesn't even matter."

He went to crouch in front of her so she would meet his eyes.

"What it is, is _you_. _That_ makes it matter." He took one of her hands and kissed it. She met his eyes then. "I do not want for you to pretend to be what you think I want. Be yourself. It is you I love, not some imagined person you have concocted for me."

He had already made that mistake himself, imagining she would want someone good and righteous. Those things were definitely not him. He was wrong then, just as she was wrong now. He wouldn't care if she wrestled alligators professionally. He just loved her.

She had grown quiet as he spoke.

"Now, tell me how you ended up in a garage fixing someone's car."

"I went to get the oil changed." She grinned sheepishly.

"Even though you could do it yourself and just did not want me to know that." He filled in at her smile and she nodded.

"There's a window where you can watch them. They were moving an engine on a lift. One of the chains was rusty and it snapped."

"Someone got hurt?"

"It landed on Big John. He was the one in cast and sling. Broke his arm and a couple of ribs."

"How did you get involved?"

She flushed. "I sort of panicked. I've seen it happen at Dad's place. It was something I was afraid of when I was a kid. John was pinned under it, between the engine and the car. So, I went running back there and lifted it off of him. By myself."

Klaus shook his head at the picture that must have made. A beautiful blonde hefting a four hundred pound engine.

"What did they do?"

She grinned. "Everyone sort of froze. So, I stood there for a second and asked them where I should put it. Someone pointed at another lift and I walked it across the garage and stood there while they hooked it up."

Klaus couldn't help himself. He laughed at the idea of all of those grizzled men watching her open mouthed.

She stopped and looked at her hands. "I guess I'm a lot stronger than I realized. They all think I'm some sort of gym rat."

Klaus' eyebrows shot up and she explained. "Someone who spends all of their time working out with weights. John kept asking how much I can "dead lift" and I had to finally tell him I had no idea."

She grinned again. "I don't even know what that means."

"And repairing the car?" He prodded her.

"In the confusion of rushing John to the hospital, they pretty much abandoned the place. When they got back I had hooked up the engine he was working on and the car was running."

Klaus shook his head in wonder at her and she nearly glowed with it but she shrugged.

"Since they're a man down while he heals, they let me come back every day since to help out. I guess I've missed it."

"Then you should be doing it." He was still crouched and reached a hand to touch her cheek. "If you are happy, I am happy."

"But why did you end up there?" She asked, her eyes narrowing. He pulled his hand away and backed up to sit on the edge of the coffee table. It was his turn to examine the floor.

"I could tell there were things that were not being said. If I do not have answers, I go find them. That is just something I have always done." He wasn't proud of it in this case.

"You thought the worst." Milla could hear it in his voice, see it in the way he wouldn't meet her eyes. He nodded once, honest, as always.

Milla drew a deep breath. She'd avoided telling him the truth and he came in search of it. She wasn't exactly in a position to be indignant. If she'd had the courage to tell him what she was doing he would never have thought she was seeing someone else and been hurt by it. She had made a mess with her unintentional game of hide and seek.

She drew a shaky breath and went to her knees in front of him. She ended up between his bent knees with her forehead braced against his chest.

"I'm sorry." She leaned up and kissed him thoroughly.

She broke the kiss and pressed her cheek to his.

Milla felt that all of life was held together with a common thread of uncertainty. Forever promises sounded like fairy tales to her ears. Real life was too harsh for fairy tales. For that reason, there were no promises between them. But this, this she could control.

"I wouldn't hurt you that way. Lie or sneak around. That's a promise I can give you. I hide when I'm embarrassed. That's all it was. I won't hide from you. You deserve better."

"I love you." He said it as he pulled her to his chest.

"I love you, too." Milla whispered against his shoulder.

She was clamped to his chest with one arm and moved so fast she blinked in confusion. When she did finally look around, he had backed her up against the living room wall. One of his hands held both of hers firmly above her head. She saw his smile as he leaned down and kissed her throat.

"When I walked into that garage, you made quite the picture. A fantasy men would put on posters to adorn their walls." He ran a hand inside her shirt and it split, falling open in tatters around her.

"As long as it is only my walls you are actually adorning, we will be fine." A finger moved under the edge of her bra and it came apart in his hand, torn at the seams.

One of his knees came up between her legs to brace her, lifting her up off the floor and he leaned down to draw the tip of one breast into his mouth.

Sensation roared through her and a gasp escaped before she could stop it.

On a deep breath of surprise, she said huskily, "I think I like where this is going."

Her breathing picking up its pace. Since she couldn't use her hands, Milla tilted her hips and wrapped both legs around him in an attempt to pull him close, moving restlessly against him.

One of the things Klaus loved most about her was how quickly she could go from prim to passionate. If she was one of the cars she loved so much, her engine would go from zero to ninety miles an hour in two point four seconds. Only a moment, a touch and she was racing for the finish line carrying him along with her.

But it was Klaus' turn to drive. She tried using her legs to draw him in, but this time he stayed where he was, lingering long with his mouth. Finally, he shifted and moved to her other breast, running his free hand over smooth, muscled skin to cup her where his lips had just been. Her breathing progressed quickly from gasping to a hard pant. Her eyes closed, she unconsciously turned to where his mouth was against her. Eyes on her face, he watched her draw in her lower lip, trying to keep a low moan from rising up. It echoed from her chest after a second anyway.

It always shook him deeply that he could touch her and make her breach the barriers of control she kept for herself. Her body trembled against him and Klaus' frame was rocked with a hard shudder as his own chaotic need rattled loose in answer.

Klaus tilted Milla's world on its axis as he carried her against his chest at lighting speed. In a few seconds they were both across their bed and stripped bare of everything but their need for one another.

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Elena sat alone at the edge of a fountain in the middle of a busy Farmer's Market twirling a single daffodil between a thumb and a finger as she watched the flow of brightly dressed people around her. Lovers walked hand in hand. Mothers carried their children in their arms, on their backs or pushed them in strollers. The flood of people and the kaleidoscope of color they created fascinated her.

As the crowd moved, one small girl broke from the stream and came to sit next to Elena. She had raven black hair pulled up in long pigtails that curled on the ends. The girl wore denim shorts and a black tank top. She appeared to be about ten years old. Bright silver eyes watched Elena closely, though she was turned away.

Elena's gaze swung around slowly and jolted in surprise as she noticed the girl. She hadn't realized she wasn't alone anymore until that moment.

"Well, hello." Elena said finally because the girl continued to just look at her.

"Hi." A small, high voice answered.

"Are you lost?" Elena asked, her eyes narrowing in concern.

The little girl smiled up at her and shook her head.

"You're very kind. But I'm ok. Thank you." Although her voice was high and she was small as she would expect, the words seemed strangely mature.

Elena's brow rippled in confusion.

The girl scooted half a space toward Elena and leaned close.

"I've come for you, actually. To offer you some free advice." She said, conspiratorially.

Elena smiled. A ten year old had advice for her. It struck her as funny.

"And what would that be, sweetie?"

The little girl turned and faced her, shifting her body to drape a bent knee between them.

"You already know that fear has its purpose. It protects us. Warns us and works to keep us safe. It can even drive positive change if need be, to avoid it." The girl reached forward and laid one of her hands over Elena's.

"But making a home for it to linger in is a dangerous thing. The thing we fear can grow and overtake us, smothering out everything good." The girl's silvery eyes met Elena's frankly as she leaned back, asking without words if Elena understood.

Elena froze as the girl started to speak and a dark flush worked its way across her face.

"Who are you?" Elena asked her, her own voice deepening in alarm. She drew in the child's scent. All she could detect was a human child and a trace of lavender.

"I am no one." The girl shook her head, her curled pigtails flopping around her. "I only want to help."

With that, the child stood and turned, walking quietly back into the stream of people.

"Wait!" Elena called after her, but the girl was gone. Elena stood, her eyes searching the crowd. Desperate suddenly to find her, she said it again, louder. "Wait!"

Elena woke with a gasp, the word she'd just called echoing in the darkness of the bedroom. She sat up, drawing deep breaths. Her skin was cold like ice and she was covered in gooseflesh.

Elijah, thankfully, still slept next to her. At least she'd not woke him with her cry.

She covered her face with her hands as her eyes filled. That felt real. The whole dream, the little girl speaking like a sage…it all felt like it had really happened. Elena shuddered as she remembered every word.

Her first instinct was to tell Elijah about the dream, because she felt sure she'd just had her dreamscape invaded. Another vampire? _No_, she dismissed that immediately. She could move into another person's dream, but not take another form while she was there. Even Damon, with his gift for dreams, couldn't do that. And there were no vampire children she had ever encountered and certainly none that would know her so well. The child had referred to things Elena had never spoken to another soul.

She had to promptly dismiss the idea of talking to Elijah about it, because he'd want to know everything she saw and heard. There was no way she was going to tell him what the girl said about fear. She'd be forced to explain why the words were so disturbing. He'd ultimately want to know what it was that Elena feared. She'd be forced to explain how she had come to live and breathe under fear's loathsome shadow; just as the child had implied.

To calm herself, she turned on her side next to Elijah and studied him. He slept on his back, his chest rising and falling smoothly, his handsome face relaxed and at rest. He looked younger somehow and innocent. One of his hands was stretched out above him, on the pillow.

Elena's heart swelled in her chest at the picture he made, her love for him rising up. Her eyes welled as they moved over his profile. The sheet was stretched taught over his bare chest and torso, a diagonal swath that stretched from his hip up over his broad chest. He slept without clothes and she knew all too well what was hidden from her sight. One of his scars caught her attention, imagining for the thousandth time the weapon that had made it, piercing him beneath a rib, so close to his heart, when he was still human and vulnerable.

Thinking of his pain from so long ago, before she could offer comfort, had her leaning close and pressing soft lips there. He made a soft sound in response, like a sigh, before he grew quiet again. His chest continued its rhythmic rising and falling, telling her he was still asleep.

But something about the sound he made drew her close again, pressing another warm kiss to him, at his side. He shifted in his sleep, moving toward her and she dropped another low on his hip bone that was exposed, her hands sliding over a flat stomach as she did. A soft sigh became a low gasp as her hand slid under the sheet and down along his thigh.

Dark eyes opened slowly as her fingers trailed back up again. Without warning she was on her back and he was over her, nestled close. She smiled as she ran hands over his back.

He returned her smile, his eyes still dreamy from sleep, before he kissed her. She was the one that deepened it, wrapping arms around his neck to draw him in. She needed this, needed him. _More now than ever._

Hours later Elijah sat in the kitchen watching the morning sunlight stream through the window. He was reviewing the list of tasks he'd committed to for the day. For the first time in more than half a century, he was free to focus beyond the empire he'd built, with possibilities around every turn.

Since handing the business over to Elena almost two years ago, he'd loosed his hold on the reins, allowing her to make the decisions. He offered to help in any way he could, but she always refused. And he could hardly argue with her results.

Elena had singlehandedly increased their profit margin by twelve percent in the first year. She'd put together a sales team that had expanded their business, rather than the travel and sales being left only in the hands of the two of them. She had a gift for finding people who could be trusted and delegating responsibility. Conversely, he'd always felt that a job well done was one he did himself.

His Elena was smart, innovative and determined.

So why did he feel this uncertainty?

There were small changes in her that worried him. Most of her work she now did from home. This was a good thing. He kept telling himself that. She could multi-task here as she couldn't somewhere else.

It didn't mean that she'd withdrawn from the world. _Not really_.

It shouldn't matter that she'd grown quieter in the last months. She had a lot on her mind, working through obstacles and finding solutions all day and sometimes into the night. But now he was the one that woke frequently to a cold bed. He'd often find her sitting alone in the living room in the dark, a night's rest lost to her.

His little chatterbox had grown quiet and serious. Probing questions found no answers. It only got him more worthless smiles that didn't reach her eyes. Real smiles had become a rare event to be celebrated.

Just that morning she'd woke him with one of those real smiles and he'd been unable to resist her. Not that he'd really wanted to resist her.

Elijah couldn't help but think that his beloved wife was unhappy and he didn't know why. The tight band of pain in his chest had become a permanent condition in recent months.

He couldn't help but revisit to the idea that his being the one responsible for her change would destroy them eventually. They had dodged that bullet so far, but it felt like there was always a chance it might strike at his very heart at any time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Milla was up and out early headed for the garage as she'd been doing now for two weeks. If she ran into trouble with a repair, she'd spend an entire evening, and sometimes all night, reviewing options for troubleshooting the problem. By morning she'd be restless to be gone so she could figure out the latest puzzle.

John was the garage owner and had become a friend. He offered to pay Milla for her time, even if she wasn't certified to do some of the work she was capable of. Milla had only smiled and told him that just being there was plenty enough for her.

She could tell he didn't really understand. But she couldn't exactly explain that money wasn't really a problem. She had a little tucked away and it was more than it looked like she'd ever need.

Elena had made a gift of the black sports car last year when Milla and her father were forced to stay. Milla had tried arguing, which was useless. There really wasn't any arguing with Elena.

Her home was with Klaus, who covered everything in that area.

She wasn't particularly high maintenance, with nail appointments or salon visits.

And clothes were necessarily disposable for her, as they were for any Were, so she wasn't likely to be spending lots of cash on a wardrobe. Even if she did run across something, Klaus stepped up without fail insisting he be the one to get it for her.

He did that a lot actually. He liked to give her gifts. It took a while for her to figure that part out.

Klaus brought her a lovely pair of black stud earrings recently, suggesting they made a good match for a dress she'd chosen. She loved them. A week later Elena noticed them and pointed out that Milla was wearing two carat black diamond earrings. Milla was astounded. Curious, she'd had them appraised. She'd been wearing a five thousand dollar pair of earrings to do the grocery shopping.

When she asked him about it, he only laughed and said they looked beautiful on her. He told her that she should wear them to the grocery store if she wanted. He left her shaking her head about it.

Sliding in behind the wheel of her car, she smiled when she thought of Klaus. He made her feel warm all over. He'd become her best friend as well as her love. He was kind, gentle, funny and generous. Everything she had ever hoped for in a partner.

Her heart seized in her chest at the thought, though. _Partner._ The implications terrified her. Being responsible for him and him for her seemed like some distant horror.

What happened when he saw all of her? Her weaknesses and flaws? She'd hoped that living together would give them the chance to explore those things and see if they stayed compatible. But he didn't acknowledge her flaws. Like they weren't flaws to him.

She kept expecting him to run screeching in the other direction. But he stayed. And there was no screeching exit.

Milla grinned to herself as she merged onto the interstate just at the thought of him running "screeching" from anything. He was dauntless. Considering his age and strength, it made sense. _But still. _

She parked her car behind the garage and headed in for work. But, rather than the already bustling work area she was used to, she found the four guys standing around and they were all grinning at her as she walked through the door. Knowing they tended toward pranks, her first reaction was that this could not be a good thing.

She smiled back at each of them.

"Okay. What?"

They all stepped aside and revealed a weight bench set up in the middle of their work area. She turned to John, puzzled.

"The guys helped me bring my stuff in. I'm dying to know how much you can lift." He grinned.

Milla laughed. What he really wanted to know was if she was stronger than he was. He was the one who actually tended toward the "gym rat" label they'd given her on the first day.

"Yeah, okay." She shrugged, hoping to lay this to rest. "But I keep telling you it was adrenaline."

The barbell was already set up and she examined it closely. It was set for four hundred pounds. Which was about what the engine had weighed that she'd lifted off of him. She noticed there was another on the floor set the same way.

"Let's not start that high though. Can we set it for three hundred?" She turned and sat down while one of them removed some of the weights.

Milla became a spectacle as she moved the three hundred pounds easily. She had known she would. The guys watched her closely, money trading hands as she went. She was evidently the subject of a betting pool. It made her smile. After a few minutes she asked them to add a little more. More money shifted hands. When they reached the four hundred pound mark, she lifted the weights, but purposely made her arms shake as she did it. That was the mark they were looking for, the obvious limit to her strength.

There were groans from the losers and high fives for those that had bet right. After a few minutes congratulating Milla, they all wandered to the break room for coffee and arguments during their morning break. Their favorite time of day. Milla had missed the camaraderie of a garage as much as the work.

Taking care to make sure there was no one else watching, she wandered over to the weight on the floor. She was now curious herself about the true limits of her strength. She reached down with one hand and lifted the four hundred pound weight that sat on the floor, hefting it easily. After a minute to balance it, she stepped with it to the bench and lifted the other barbell, also set for four hundred pounds and hefted it as well. There was no shaking, no limit and no pain.

Eight hundred pounds. And she still had strength to spare.

Carefully she set down the second weight on the stand and replaced the one on the floor. As she moved, she didn't notice John watching her through the blind on the window of the breakroom.

A week later, around midday, she and John were working on a car they had almost finished. Everyone else had already left for lunch. Milla made a long stretch for the carburetor and hissed with pain. A sharp edge caught her arm and laid it open from wrist to elbow. She stood, blood pouring from the wound and John rushed off for the first aid kit.

Milla sat on a stool holding her arm and applying pressure.

"Hold up." John called. "That might need stitches with all the blood."

John came back, clean wet cloth in hand and the entire first aid kit. He pulled up a stool and started working to clean her arm of the grime so he could dress the wound.

Milla hissed with the pain again.

"Sorry, hun. I know that has to hurt. But we've got to clean it first. My wife is better at this than I am, but I'm all you've got at the moment." He was scrubbing her arm down. After a few minutes of effort, the grime was gone.

He reached for the kit, pulling out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. He poured the alcohol across the wound and gasped.

Milla looked down and watched the wound close like there was a zipper under her skin that was being sealed from the inside. There was no scar, no marks. It was just gone.

She'd not had injuries since her change other than nicking her finger in the kitchen a time or two. So she hadn't paid attention. She was healing almost instantly.

It was then that she realized John had just seen her do it.

He sat back on his stool, staring at her. "Ok. What the hell was that?" He met her eyes. "What are you?"

Milla held his eyes and focused on him, in search of the emotions driving him. Wonder. Fascination. Those were the things he was feeling. No fear.

She drew a deep breath as she pondered how to answer his question. Denying it happened wasn't an option without working to make him think he was crazy. That was just cruel.

If this turned out to be a mistake, she could just disappear. He didn't even know her last name or where she lived since she'd refused payment. And there was no local pack she was part of that she was betraying. She saw very little risk here.

John leaned forward and rested his working hand on his knee.

"I watched you lift eight hundred pounds last week like it was nothing." He told her and Milla's eyes went wide. "I didn't tell anyone about that, either."

Milla smiled and shook her head. "It's not like most people would believe you."

"At least not the sane ones." He agreed.

"I'm a Were." She told him quietly. His brows shot up, but he still looked confused.

"A werewolf, John." She clarified. He sat back, opening and closing his mouth a few times.

"So you turn into a wolf?" He stuttered the words out. "Like a real wolf? On a full moon? Like the movies?"

Milla nodded, deciding to leave out the whole full moon situation she found herself in.

"Can you show me?" He leaned forward now, the surprise gone and the fascination back.

"Not without destroying my clothes and probably wrecking your garage."

"Ok. Never mind that." He pondered, looking at his hand. "So…do you eat people?"

Milla laughed. John watched too many movies evidently.

She shook her head. "No. Most of us don't. When the change first happens, some will go feral for a while. Humans have been caught in the crossfire of that a time or two, I'm sure. But mostly that would be a no."

"Have _you_ ever killed anybody?" It was a valid question considering what she was sharing with him. And, again, it's not like anyone would believe him. She decided to be honest.

"My best friend died in a wreck and I was driving the car. The other wasn't human. And he deserved it." Thinking of Jamie, her eyes shifted to solid gold for a second as she said, her voice unconsciously deepening, "I'd go back and do it again given the chance."

John sat back again, noticing the change to her voice and her eyes. He put a hand over his mouth to cover it as it was hanging open.

"I know that sounds terrible." She leaned forward and put a hand on his knee as her eyes shifted again to normal. "But he murdered my mother." She saw it as a good sign that he didn't recoil from her touch.

He removed his hand from his mouth and lifted it in surrender.

"No. I get it." He let out a sigh and she could see the moment another question occurred to him.

"How did this happen to you? Did someone bite you and spread this?" He was studying her face.

"It's a curse. We're born with it. But it doesn't come to life automatically. It's definitely not spread by biting." She shrugged broadly. "That's Hollywood."

"Your boyfriend….?" He didn't finish, but he didn't have to.

"He knows."

"And he's like you?"

Milla shook her head. "No. He's something else. Most of my kind consider him a little scary. But that's not my story to tell." She shrugged broadly.

John drew a deep breath again. "So there are things other than werewolves that are also real. And something even werewolves are afraid of. Damn. I've been a fan of horror and science fiction since I was a kid. Where has this been my whole life?"

Milla grinned. "Checking out next to you at the grocery store."

John let out a deep booming laugh as he was prone to do. There was still not a shred of fear in him.

Klaus sat on their back porch quietly drinking a cup of tea. Their house was built on a hill and the back yard had a drastic slope with the porch standing ten feet off the ground. It gave him a broad view of the forest beyond their backyard. He still enjoyed the stillness and quiet of hearing leaves rustle in the breeze and old trees creak.

Interrupting his stillness came a familiar jangling in his right ear. A spell. An old one.

He turned and went inside, heading for the master bathroom. Stepping in, he switched off the light and turned to the mirror in the dark.

After a few seconds of waiting, a lit image appeared in the mirror, looking back at him.

"Neyla. It has been a long time." Klaus greeted her. She was a very tall, very dark skinned young woman with her dark brown hair separated to small braids that hung below her shoulders. The last time he'd seen her, she was fifteen years old.

"I am sorry for the loss of your mother. She was a good woman." He told her and watched Neyla's dark eyes go wide. Klaus recognized he was betraying himself. He was not sentimental before his humanity was restored and would've never said such a thing.

She inclined her head finally and spoke, "Thank you, sir." Her voice was deeply accented with the tones and cadence common in Africa.

"I apologize for disturbing you. But there is unrest here." She told him after a moment, shifting her weight from one side to another nervously.

Klaus' brow went up, but he said nothing.

"More so than usual." She clarified with a small smile. "The General is dead." She delivered the news deadpan. He had not been a popular man.

"His eldest son, Charles has taken his place. There are whispers that he has requested a meeting with you. To renegotiate terms."

Klaus' smile was broad and genuine. "Perfect." He said quietly. He'd been waiting for this.

"Sir. I do not believe he has good intentions." Neyla's eyes had narrowed. Her voice deepened in warning.

"I would expect nothing less." He smiled warmly at her and got another wide eyed look. "I will handle this. But you and your family should know that I am going to bring it all down now. The men can keep what is left for themselves, free and clear. But there will be no new arrangement."

Neyla's expression grew somber and she looked away from him.

"I will not forget you and your family. So many years of loyalty and service will be richly rewarded. I can promise you that." He had leaned close to the mirror as he spoke, sincerity ringing in his voice.

She focused again on him with her head cocked to one side, dark eyes moving over his face. "You are changed."

Klaus leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yes. That is why this unsavory business will not suit anymore."

She nodded. "Understood."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elijah opened his eyes in the darkness of their room. Automatically a hand stretched across the sheet and found it cold. Emptiness was all there was to greet him.

He stood, wrapping a robe around him and followed her scent. He found her wearing her own robe, sitting in the gardens on their bench in the dark. Without a word, he lifted her and sat again with her across his lap. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done this. In his efforts to give her space, they had lost some of the finer things.

She sighed, pressing her face to the crook of his neck. Small arms came up around him.

"Tell me what's troubling you, little one." He pressed his lips to her hair.

"I'm okay." She whispered. But even she didn't sound like she believed it.

"You're not." He countered as he drew her closer.

But she wouldn't say any more. And it was killing him, the tight band of pain around his chest seemed intent on squeezing the life out of him.

"What will make you happy again?" His voice sounded pained even to him.

"This. Right here. With you." The words were a wisp of sound and his chest expanded reflexively. _She's not wishing herself away then_, he thought, relief easing some of his pain.

"Then we will sit here all night if you want." He told her and meant it. A hand moved over her hair in long gentle strokes.

They were silent for a long time and he felt her draw a deep breath.

"I had a bad dream. I'm afraid to sleep. Afraid it will come back." Her words were a whisper again.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head and spoke again. "But if you'll take me to bed and hold me, maybe it won't come again. I feel safe with you."

He stood and carried her inside and laid her gently on the bed. He reached to turn on a light that sat on his bedside table.

"No shadows, no bad dreams. We will just let this one burn tonight." He explained at her questioning look. Carefully he moved in beside her and turned to gather her close.

A long, deep sigh escaped her.

"I love you." She whispered against his chest.

"And I will always love you." He answered.

After a much deserved night's rest, Elena moved quietly around her kitchen as the sun was coming up. She didn't leave home much anymore, so Milla, Damon, Jeremy and Suzette, - pretty much everyone- came to her. Early Saturday morning was when Damon usually appeared. It wasn't planned or scheduled, he just usually wandered up. Elijah tended to sleep in on Saturday if he was ever going to, so it actually worked out pretty well in the area of keeping the peace.

A light tap at the door the moment she turned on the coffee maker told her she'd timed everything just right. She opened the door and found Damon with a warm smile waiting for her.

"What do you say we take my car for a drive?" He asked as he stepped in.

Elena's heart gave a painful sputter, just at the thought.

"We can both run faster than that car, Damon." She smiled up at him as she stepped into a hug.

"But we can't possibly look as cool doing that as we can cruising in the 'Stang." Damon was still enamored with his baby blue convertible Mustang.

She stepped away, headed for the coffee pot and hoping to avoid a confrontation.

"I haven't even had my coffee yet."

Damon slid onto one of the barstools, leaned both elbows on the counter and propped his chin in his hands.

"How long has it been since you've left this house, Elena? Four months? Five?" He sounded conversational when he asked it, like he was asking about the weather. But she knew him well enough to know a great deal of thought went into that question.

Here Elena was trying to avoid confrontation and Damon barrels into it head first. Everyone else, even Elijah, hadn't spoken about it. It was the elephant in the room with every visitor and conversation.

She didn't answer at first, making her hands busy with a cup of coffee and drew one of them to a fist when it trembled.

Head high, she turned and met his eyes. They were narrowed in concern, his lips turned down. He'd seen her draw her fist and why, his eyes lingering long over her hands.

She drew a shaky breath and set her cup down, leaning on the counter across from him.

"I'm dealing with it." She told him tightly because there was no way he was going to let this go.

"Looks to me like you're hiding from it, honey." The words were harsh. Coming from anyone else it would've brought tears to her eyes. But Damon said it so quietly, so gently that she understood it was kindness that drove it, not censure.

"I know you don't understand. Nobody really does. I'll get through this. I just still need some time." Her voice was a shaky as her hands had been.

He stood and came around the kitchen island.

"You're only partially right. I don't know what's brought you here, but I do know how it feels. So, when you're ready, you call me and we'll go for a drive. Okay?" Another shaky breath expanded her chest and she moved in close, hugging him.

"Thank you."

He drew her in, closing his eyes and letting out a relieved breath. He'd half been expecting he'd be thrown out on his ear. But at least somebody would tell her the truth. If it had to be him, then so be it.

Elena led him into the living room and poured him a glass while he waited.

"Tell me about what you're doing today." She asked him with a smile when she handed him the drink.

"I'm supposed to head over to Milla's this morning. She wants to go to the Farmer's Market. She's not been before and asked me to go with her. But I'm not so sure about it on a Saturday." He shrugged a shoulder and took a sip.

Elena came around and pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket, sitting it on the coffee table to make a seat on the couch next to him.

She felt herself go pale at the mention of the market. _That stupid dream_, she thought, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

"Saturday's a great day for the market though." She pointed out, to cover her fluttering heart.

One of Damon's brows went up. "Milla's been working days during the week in Richmond. So, now, I'm figuring they'll be having some…alone… time on her first day to be able to sleep in." He pretended to shudder in disgust and grinned when Elena giggled.

He smiled into his glass, saying, "That whole thing with her and Klaus still just weirds me out."

"It takes some getting used to." Elena agreed with a smile. "But they're happy. And he's crazy about her."

Her cell phone buzzed since she had it on vibrate.

Damon leaned forward to look down at her cell phone, saying "Maybe that's Milla now."

But Elena could see who it was and remained where she was, not reaching for the phone as it continued to buzz. Damon grew still at the name on the screen and turned to watch Elena.

"You're still not talking to her?" His blue eyes had gone wide as they searched her face.

Elena shook her head without a word and Damon covered one of her hands with his.

"It's been a year since you spoke last, then." Damon pointed out, like she wouldn't already know that.

Elena studied the cushion of the couch closely.

"Bonnie is your friend, Elena." He squeezed her hand.

"I haven't got past what she did, yet." Elena's jaw felt tight, like she couldn't open her mouth far enough to get the words out.

"But Elena, she only…" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Her brown eyes shifted to red in a blink as she turned to meet his. There was no ridging around her brows, just the raw angry red eyes studying him.

"Don't defend her, Damon. Not to me." Her voice was deeper, like it wasn't her own.

Damon froze as her red eyes moved over him. He pulled his hand away and set his drink down. Both hands came up in surrender.

"Okay. Okay. Calm down." Elena blew a deep breath out through pursed lips, trying to do just that.

While Elena and Elijah were embroiled in a convoluted split up of their marriage, Bonnie cast a spell that nearly cost Elijah his life. She'd intended to kill him and said she was doing it for Elena's benefit. When Elena found out it was Bonnie that was responsible, she'd nearly killed her. Here now, today, the anger hadn't faded. Elena would still respond the same way if she saw Bonnie again.

The red rim around her vision faded after a moment, but Damon still looked rattled.

"I'm sorry. I just….." She swallowed hard before she spoke again.

"She nearly cost me _everything_." Her voice faded to a harsh whisper with the last word. "Forgiving that is hard."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Niklaus spent most of the nineteen hundreds profiting from illegal arms trades spanning most of Africa and the Middle East. It was easy to make a profit when with very little effort you could steal what someone wanted desperately and sell it to them. Warlords wanted modern weapons because they meant power and victory in whatever war they had chosen at the moment.

In the early years he'd gained a reputation after a few deals went south. A time or two he'd wiped out everything breathing at a camp or compound when a deal turned into a double cross. In the end, he walked away with both the money and the weapons they coveted, leaving only a trail of blood. He wasn't forced to such drastic action often after that. And the man he had been had relished the fear his presence brought. But he had supply no one else did, so the deals kept coming.

Over time he'd invested in what would become the modern African pirate rings that travelled the coast of Somalia. He supplied the funds for a band of them. Boats, weapons, supplies and ammunition were plentiful. In return he got any shipping containers that held weapons. He could sell those diverted containers at a great profit.

Neyla's family quietly served as his eyes and ears on the ground with one witch among them able to contact him, should the need arise. Neyla was the third in line now, after her grandmother and her mother both passed. They called him only "Sir" because he had no name to them. Behind his back he was called "the English" and it was spoken cautiously. Being only a face with no name gave him the anonymity to come and go as he pleased.

He'd made a fortune, many, many times over. But, just as he'd told Neyla, it wouldn't work anymore. Even with his changes, he'd still had responsibilities to fulfill. Villain though he had been, his word was his bond. Groups had disbanded over time, the deals falling apart as leadership changed hands and priorities, so much so that the only deal he had left open was with the General. But, with the General dead, it was negotiable again. Klaus could wash his hands of the whole thing rather than be a party to any further theft and violence.

Milla deserved more. She was better than ill-gotten gain. Klaus couldn't undo his past, but he could reshape their future.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the type of business that could be handled on an international call that could easily be recorded. He'd avoided law enforcement all this time with one simple rule. Everything was done in person with a hand shake to seal a deal. There were no records and no paper trails.

He made some calls to establish his flight arrangements and headed for the garage to surprise Milla for lunch.

Milla caught his scent when he opened the door and rolled on the sliding board out from under the van she was working on. She sat up, wiping her hands on a shop towel.

He met her eyes, the light from the door still shining behind him and her heart pounded. His tall frame being starkly back lit emphasized his broad shoulders. He still mostly wore shirts and jeans. Today he wore black jeans, a black button down shirt and his black cowboy boots. Her favorite look on him. Her lips spread automatically to a smile as he headed slowly in her direction.

Milla just liked to watch Klaus move sometimes. Every step held a rhythmic balance between power and grace. There was a quiet confidence that carried him, making every foot fall masterful somehow. Only he could walk across a room and make her heart pound watching him do it.

"Hi." Milla said as he extended a hand and helped her to stand.

"Have you eaten?" He brushed a lock of her hair, down today, over her shoulder. Her heart pounded harder in her chest at the contact.

She smiled and shook her head.

"I brought something from home, though. In the breakroom. We can share, if you want." She told him as she realized she was just standing there smiling up at him like a love struck teen.

"I will just sit with you." He smiled again. It was another slow, sweet smile. Her heart fluttered again in her chest. _And he could hear it._ His smile got a little bigger and she raised a brow at him, her lips twisted to a wry smile.

"Ugghhh…..you're killin' me here." She mumbled, half embarrassed, half amused as she turned to the sink to wash up.

Klaus laughed, long and deep. He knew exactly what he was doing to her.

_Evil man,_ she thought, grinning. _He's loving this._

They went into the breakroom and took a corner table, sitting close. It wasn't unusual for him not to eat when she did. He didn't actually need it, after all.

About half way through her lunch break, he dropped what felt like a bomb on her.

"I have to be out of town for a few days." He said it bluntly, quietly. His eyes swept her face. They hadn't actually been apart overnight since they moved in together.

"Where are you going?" She asked, feeling like she'd gone a little pale.

"South Africa."

"Yeah. That's a little more than "out of town"." She stuffed what was left of her lunch into the small bag she'd carried it in. Milla didn't feel like eating anymore.

"It is business. Unpleasant but unavoidable business. I will be back as soon as possible. No more than three days." His words rushed out, like he could see she didn't like the subject much.

"And I can't go with you?" She focused her eyes on the crumpled bag in her hands.

He took a deep breath. "When I said unpleasant, what I really meant was dangerous. Not really for me, but anyone with me. I am cleaning up a mess I made years ago."

Milla thought on that for a second. She figured there would be things he'd have to handle from his past along the way. She'd thought she'd be there to help him. _Evidently not._

On the other hand, she didn't have the right to be upset with him. There wasn't really a commitment between them. He could come and go as he pleased. The open nature of their relationship went both ways.

She looked up and found he was watching her. His blue eyes were thoughtful as they moved over her face.

"Okay. No big deal. When do you leave?"

"My flight leaves in two hours." He said it carefully, expecting her to be upset again.

She swallowed hard and nodded.

"I'll miss you. Please be careful." Milla reached and took one of his hands that was resting on the edge of the table.

He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it.

"Always." He told her.

He stood and hauled her into his arms, kissing her. It was warm and sweet.

"I love you." He whispered it near her ear.

"I love you back." She answered with a smile.

The twenty-three hour flight Klaus chartered felt endless. His thoughts kept straying Milla. More specifically he wondered at the way she had looked at him when he'd surprised her a few hours ago.

As he'd strode through that garage, into the very center of all things mundane, she'd turned such an extraordinary look on him. There was that smile, broad and warming his heart as always. But for the first time, as those golden eyes turned on him, they'd held an awe that made him feel like the only man breathing.

Milla kept herself guarded. Her emotions remained primly contained. Sometimes it felt like this thing between them was largely one sided, with him the only one walking around with his heart on his sleeve.

He'd caught her unguarded, though, her feelings very nearly tangible for a few breaths. There was a great deal that remained unsaid between them. But her eyes spoke a few hours ago, saying things his heart longed to hear.

She thought he had laughed to tease her. She was wrong. That was sheer joy in his laughter.

He landed in Mogadishu in late afternoon. He had an errand to run before he would meet with Charles the following morning.

Hours later Klaus stepped lightly in the dark around the small house. It had simple lines, made of tan brick. More than a decade had passed since the last time he'd come to this place. It was larger than it had been, with rooms added. The house stood out now, larger than the others on this little street. There was lawn furniture outside and a thriving garden in the back yard. Neyla and her family had done well with what he paid them. He hoped what he carried now would be enough to cement their future and give them opportunities they might not have had otherwise.

The door was latched, but not locked. That didn't surprise him. This area wasn't particularly crime riddled. An invitation given by Neyla's father decades ago still stood, thankfully. Evidently he still lived.

Klaus stepped quietly in and laid the black back pack just inside the door. He'd filled it with eight large bags of gold coins from the local bank, withdrawn from his own Swiss account, not stolen as he might've done a few years ago.

He turned back soundlessly to the door and a match struck in the far corner of the living room.

Neyla watched him in the match light, her dark eyes wide.

He stood and smiled at her.

"I promised compensation." He told her, his voice low so as not to wake anyone else. He motioned to the bag.

Neyla followed his gesture with her eyes and nodded.

"Thank you."

"I am not here to harm you or your family, Neyla." He told her because she stood and was shifting her weight again from one foot to the other as she did when she was nervous.

"I know." She turned toward the door he'd come through and stepped outside. He followed her.

When he joined her on the porch with the door closed, she turned on him. She looked pointedly at one of his hands.

"May I?" She asked as she gestured to it. Klaus understood that she wanted to read him. He guessed that she was uncertain about the changes in him and concerned.

He lifted a hand and held it out to her. She took his one hand with both of hers. The moonlight highlighted the stark contrast between his pale hand and her naturally dark toned ones.

She bowed her head and closed her eyes; silent for a moment.

"Ahhhh, I see. A woman." She met his eyes and smiled, her face softening with relief. He smiled back and nodded. Her hands moved over his slowly.

"She is bright like the sun." Neyla looked to him again to confirm and his smile grew.

"And the way she looks at you…" Wonder rang in her words. Neyla's eyes moved over him with a new, deeper respect.

She bowed her head once more and gasped, dropping his hand. She stepped back abruptly half a dozen steps. Both hands came up over her heart, rubbing across it like she was in pain.

He moved too quickly and startled her, her hair blowing back as he appeared close with his hands on her shoulders. "What? What did you see?"

Her dark eyes were tear filled as she stared at the ground.

"I am sorry." A single tear, silver in the moonlight, slid down her dark cheek. "I saw the sun go dark."

She swallowed hard and looked up at him again. "You should go to her. Quickly."

Klaus walked away from Neyla with his heart in his throat. He tried to call Milla but she didn't pick up. She'd be deeply immersed in her work right now, so it made sense. But hearing her voice would've been a balm for the tension that gripped him. Neyla came from a powerful line of witches. And she'd told him what she saw, even though she hadn't wanted to. He believed her.

Because he couldn't reach Milla, Klaus called Elijah. He then made a call to his pilot, advising that his plans had changed and he'd be flying out again as soon as they could get wheels off the ground. He would finish this trip and be gone again as soon as possible.

Turning toward the General's home, he decided he wouldn't stand on formality and meet this son of the General with witnesses after all.

A ten minute run found him surrounded by opulence. A twenty acre compound surrounded by a ten foot high brick wall offered little obstruction for him. The lawns were manicured and engineered to impress, rows of flowers blooming in bright display. Klaus leapt from the ground to the patio attached to the master bedroom. He was already familiar with the place and sure that if Charles was taking his father's place, he would also have taken his bedroom.

He smiled to himself as he found the patio door unlocked and stepped into the dark room. The invitation to this place for a meeting allowed Klaus effortless passage.

Moving quietly to the head of the bed, he leaned over the young man lying there, sleeping soundly. Klaus reached and switched on the bedside lamp.

Charles sat up with a gasp in his bed.

"Hello, Charles." Klaus greeted him, crossing his arms and leaning on the carved wooden bed post.

"It's you." Klaus could hear his heartbeat as it tripled in speed.

"You wanted to see me. Forgive the informality. I have little time."

Klaus could see Charles eyeing the phone on his bedside table as if he was deciding whether he needed back up, or to call security. Charles was lean, with a slight frame and his dark hair was nearly shaved clean. His skin was a deep dark tone and his eyes held a sly expression as they slid over Klaus. He was probably eighteen. Still a boy, really.

"I will pay you twice what my father did per unit. But I need twice the supply." He told Klaus after a moment, turning away from the phone and the help it might offer.

Klaus shook his head. "The deal dissolved with your father's death."

"So you will make a new one with me." Charles countered, moving to sit to the side of the bed.

"That is not possible." One of Klaus' shoulders rose and fell as he spoke.

Charles leaned forward, resting an elbow on his knee. "You _will_ do business with me." The young man's voice deepened and Klaus heard it as the command it was intended to be.

Klaus turned and headed for the patio door he'd come in through without answering. He didn't respond well to commands.

"Or I will crush everything and everyone you love. You aren't the only one with power." Charles' voice rose as he spoke. The threat sounded childishly desperate.

It didn't matter that it seemed to lack teeth and was spoken by a man-child. _It was a threat._ To Milla. To his family.

Klaus turned slowly, quiet anger rising up in him as he went to stand in front of Charles. The young man was watching him wide eyed.

He leaned down to meet the boy's eyes. "No one threatens my family and lives."

Niklaus intended to only break his neck, making for a swift and relatively painless death. In his anger, Charles' head came off effortlessly in his hands before he had time to scream. Klaus dropped it to the floor and went back out the way he came without regret.

A half hour later Klaus' chartered plane lifted off again from the airport in Mogadishu.

Miles away, Milla was headfirst under a car again when the wind picked up in the garage. She already knew the bay doors were closed. It blew over her like a small storm and she picked up the scent immediately.

John stood beside her, handing off tools and she heard him say, "What the…?"

She straightened to find Elijah standing near her. He was dressed in his standard suit, like he'd just come from a business meeting. She knew it could appear that Elijah had materialized when he moved that fast. John's mouth was hanging open again. Milla reached and pushed his chin up.

"It's okay. He's family." She told John.

"Milla." Elijah's voice was unusually deep, his brow furrowed. "I need to get you out of here."

She searched his face and could see something was wrong.

"Okay. Just let me wash up." She was wiping the grease from her hands onto a shop rag.

"There's no time for that." Elijah told her as he stepped close and wrapped both arms around her.

John was left with his mouth hanging open again as they both disappeared in a gust of wind.

Milla was in Elijah's arms with her eyes firmly closed to try to cut the risk of losing her lunch. Wind was whipping around them as she held on. Talking wasn't really an option at the speed they were moving, but her mind was racing too. She'd not seen Elijah so alarmed before and her heart pounded in her chest with all the possibilities for what might be wrong.

When the sonic speed ride was over she was sitting in the living room of Elijah's home. She knew because she recognized the smells. She hadn't had the courage yet to open her eyes, for fear that dizziness would overtake her as it had with Klaus a time or two.

When she finally did look around, Elena and Elijah were both sitting across from her, watching her closely. Elijah explained quietly that there had been word of a tangible threat against her life from a reliable source. He spoke with Klaus an hour ago and had promised to fetch her and keep her safe until Klaus could return home.

Milla wanted to call Klaus to reassure him she was fine. A check of her phone found she'd missed a call from him a little more than an hour ago. But he was already in the air and couldn't be reached for easily twenty three hours.

The bottom line was that she was supposed to sit here for the next day at least. Elijah took a short run to her house to get some of her things. A change of clothes and toiletries would make her more comfortable for now.

Milla made a quick call to John.

He answered the phone, saying, "What _the ever-loving hell _was that?"

Milla laughed. "I told you. Family. I just wanted to say I won't be in for a couple of days."

But John was still focused on his question. "A magician? Does he do shows in Vegas? Birthday parties?" John's voice was high and she heard the wonder in it again.

She laughed at the idea of Elijah doing Vegas shows wearing a diamond encrusted suit.

Elena stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching Milla talk on the phone to someone. Milla was cheerful, laughing as she spoke. It baffled Elena. How could Milla be so calm? Did she not care that her life might be in danger? Because it made Elena's hands shake just thinking about it.

It felt like the world stopped when Elijah had filled her in on his phone call with Klaus. Elena was holding it together, but only just barely. Her heart wanted to fly apart, it beat in her chest so fast. To look at her, you'd never know, but inside she was a mess.

Elijah's arms came around her from behind, pulling her against his chest.

"She's safe, Elena." He murmured it in her ear.

She nodded against him as she spoke. "Thank you for getting her here so quickly."

"I'm going to go freshen up her room upstairs for the night." Her voice was low and tight around the lump in her throat. Some unknown threat aimed at Milla terrified her.

Elena couldn't lose anyone else. She couldn't bear it.

She turned and walked stiffly up the stairs to the bedroom Milla always used during her visits. Elena figured out over the last months that doing tasks calmed her. So she moved around the room, straightening, dusting and turning down the bed.

While she worked, she ran down a mental list. _Name four things you can see. Three things you can hear. Two things you can touch. One thing you can feel. _By the time she reached the end of her list the tremor in her hands and stiffness of her legs was gone. It was a coping exercise for anxiety called grounding. It worked to center her again in reality and free her of the flights of imagination that defined her fears.

She met her own eyes in the reflection of the dresser mirror and raised her chin. Just as she'd told Damon; she was dealing with it.

_Milla is alive and well._ She's here where anything trying to hurt her would meet a nasty end before it got the chance to do damage. _This is what's real, _Elena told herself.

Elijah watched Elena pull away from his arms and mount the stairs. Her back was ramrod stiff, her chin high. He understood she was worried about Milla because he was too. Usually this was something they handled together. Leaning on each other.

But not anymore.

Somewhere along the way Elena had become a one woman show. Standing there, he saw it clearly for the first time. She drew away, determined to stand on her own feet. Like he was a spectator now, rather than having a valuable role to play. This. This is the distance, the coldness between them.

How had they got here? He honestly didn't know. Since he hadn't seen the path that led them here, he was unsure of the way back. It broke his heart to think their marriage had regressed from "we" to "he and she", leaving him all alone, but still present.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Klaus rattled around during the flight stopping periodically to look uselessly at his cell phone. Modern technology that could keep him connected anywhere…except here. The one place he was forced to be was the one place he couldn't reach her.

He went over what Neyla told him a thousand times in his mind working out possible threats to Milla. The garage was new. Was it possible there could be a threat to her from that avenue?

She was strong. Very strong. So whatever might be able to hurt her would have to be deadly indeed. It would take more than what might easily kill another werewolf.

His heart sank as a possibility occurred to him. Silver. He knew silver to the heart or the brain was something that werewolves didn't come back from. But how could that happen? More of the packs from last year come to take her, possibly? There was always that chance. This was why her father had decided to stay in Virginia, to minimize that risk.

Whatever might come, there was no way he was going to lose her. He would do anything to keep her safe. _Anything._

Fists clenched uselessly as he sat, watching the hours of the flight tick down so slowly it felt endless.

Maybe Neyla was wrong. Or the threat had already been avoided by Elijah taking Milla home early for the day as he'd promised he would. Klaus could only hope.

When they landed and the flight doors opened, Klaus was gone without a word.

A very few minutes later he was ringing the doorbell at Elijah's home and Milla stepped into his arms.

Holding her close, his cheek resting against the crown of her head, finally he felt like he could breathe again.

Her small hands moved slowly over his shoulders and the tension began to fade. She smelled like warm cinnamon and sunlight.

"Oh, god, Milla." He pressed his lips to a bared shoulder as he said it, closing his eyes.

"I'm right here." She said it gently, reassuring him, as her hands continued their slide over him.

"I do not want to think of what I would do without you." He told her as he tipped her face up with a finger and kissed her.

"You don't have to. You're stuck with me if you want to be." She told him after a moment as she leaned away.

"I definitely want to be." He smiled and pressed his cheek to hers.

"I've realized I'm in love with my best friend." Milla whispered the words that bolstered his fragile heart.

Klaus grinned, his cheek still next to hers. "You should know, conscience or not, that I am not above eliminating my competition."

She jabbed a playful finger in his rib and chuckled. "That would be you, silly."

"Oh, well, that makes things much easier then." He laughed, joy leaking out again. This was what he saw in her eyes before. "I feel the same. My love. My best friend. So, no dying. Is that fair?"

Milla nodded against him. "I promise. No dying."

He leaned back and smiled when she looked up at him. "That would be two promises from you. I am keeping track." There was one promise not to lie or sneak around from a few weeks ago and another to not die.

She laughed and pulled him down to kiss him again.

Elijah watched Niklaus and Milla's reunion in the entryway of his home. He couldn't help but smile. They were in their own little world, mesmerized. It did his heart good to see his brother so loved and happy. Klaus smiled more now and there was a profound gentleness in the way he held Milla that Elijah had never seen from him.

Klaus had confided a month ago that Milla was hesitant to make their relationship official, giving it labels. Elijah told his brother then about the years after Elena agreed to move in with him, when he had teetered wildly between joy and despair, uncertain of her. Klaus was anything but patient by his very nature, but Elijah had counseled him to give her time.

He could see for himself how much Milla loved his brother. Just the mention of his name brought a light to her eyes. That in itself was telling.

As Elijah leaned against the stair rail watching them, a small hand appeared at his waist. Elena. She was getting to be as stealthy as he was. He hadn't even felt her coming. He had evidently taught her too well. He turned and smiled down at her, surprised at the warmth of the gesture and her very real smile.

Just about the time he started to think she had shut him out completely, she would do something like this and the hope in him would rise up again.

"I think they're going to be okay now." She whispered up at him. He smiled and nodded.

They watched Milla and Klaus leave together without a word. They were in their own little world.

Elijah stood after they were gone, staring long at the empty space where two lovers had reunited and disappeared together. His heart had grown wistful.

Elena, still standing there with him, ran her hand up his side slowly.

"What's wrong?" The question jarred him out of his reverie.

Elijah, his eyes still on the space they had vacated, spoke from his heart. "Have we lost that, do you think?"

Elena stepped around to stand in front of him, small hands against his chest.

"Lost it? The love? The passion?" Her voice was small and tight, her brown eyes wide. He was slow to meet her eyes and did it only for a second. When he did, he nodded, his heart in his throat.

"I feel you pulling away, Elena." His eyes strayed to focus on her shoulder, too tense to meet those eyes again.

Elena's chest expanded on a deep breath. He noticed it as her shoulder rose.

"I'm not." She denied it, the words strangled.

"But you are." He rasped back at her, putting into words the thing that had cost him his peace. "And I don't know what I've done. Or how to fix it."

She stepped into him, her body flush with his and her hands moving over him. But he was drawn tight, his heart aching and his arms at his sides.

"Elijah." She had tipped her head up, saying his name, but he didn't move.

"Husband." Elena said it, a title she rarely used, and his eyes met hers. She pointedly tilted her head and bared her neck to him. "You tell me what is in my heart."

_The blood exchange._ If he bit her, he would see and hear the contents of her heart. A window would open showing him what was hidden. They had not done this since they had nearly divorced more than a year ago and then it had only been for half a moment. Then he'd heard a distant echo of his name. But here today, this was one path he didn't have the courage to tread.

He stepped around her and headed slowly up the stairs. There was a rush of wind and Elena stood halfway up the stairs, two steps above him, blocking his way.

"No, sweetheart. I can't let you walk away from this." Tears had welled in her velvet brown eyes. She bared her neck again and whispered, "Please."

Elijah drew tight with tension, his shoulders bent against the strain. He was afraid. He feared that even she didn't know her heart. If he did this and they were really done, there would be no denying it anymore.

With hindsight, he could see the months of silence and distance that had crept into their life. It was there, like a living thing between them, this slow withdrawal of her heart.

But the plea in her eyes, the tears….it was more than he could stand.

He leaned close, a hand straying to her waist and pulling her to him. Head bent and his mouth near her skin, he stopped, hoping for a way out.

"Are you sure? Because this can't be undone." The words barely made a sound, he didn't have the breath to give them volume.

Her face was turned away, with her neck bared. She nodded and he saw a stray tear roll down her cheek.

Elijah hesitated one last time, wishing he was somewhere else or that he hadn't spoken his at all. Perhaps his silence might have bought him more time.

Slowly and painfully he leaned close and stretched his jaws wide. At the last moment he moved more quickly to save her pain and sank his teeth into her throat.

Coppery blood filled his mouth, the taste of her like the strongest drink. He sealed his lips over the wounds and pulled, establishing connection with the pulse of her heart. A rush of emotion filled him so powerful that it struck with concussive force. He stumbled under its power like he'd been struck, his knees giving way. A hand came up to the wall to catch them or they both would've tumbled together down the stairs. Elijah found that his name wasn't a distant echo like before. It was a thunderous roar, ferocious and wild, filling his ears and pounding forcefully with the beat of her heart.

Though his eyes went blind, he finally saw. Elijah now understood the depth and breadth of her love for him. She had called him her heart, words he held close and hung hope on. Elena spoke true. Her feelings hadn't faded with time after all, but had grown wild and free. What she felt for him consumed her, the driving force in all she did.

The tightness in his chest, that had made its home there, lost its leverage under the sheer magnitude of what he found. Dawning understanding made his own heart meet her thunder and match it.

Unaware, he drew her closer and closer as he drank, his body echoing her needs and mingling with his own. The staggering need for her was immediate and irresistible. He pushed her instinctively to the stairs, cupping her head with gentle hands as he covered her body with his. Elena moved insistently against him and he shredded their clothes. There had already been too many barriers between them, they weren't to be tolerated anymore.

Her breath was a heated rasp against him. His breath drug in and out of him. The blood exchange drove them both with a voracious need that would only be satisfied together. _Now. Here._

Her now bare legs came up around him. Elijah broke the blood connection and paused, shaken before he kissed her. He wanted with all he was to have something eloquent to say. But he was speechless. He grew still as he broke the kiss and she looked up at him. His eyes must have spoken for him though because hers filled with tears and a slow, beautiful smile spread across her face. Her hands found both of his and she wove their fingers together. Beautiful legs pulled him close and they were eye to eye, hands wound together as they became truly one again at long last.

Elijah would _never_ doubt her heart again.

The following morning Milla woke before Klaus did for a change, sunlight flowing over her face from the window blinds. He confided early on that he rarely slept. But with her he could find rest for the first time in decades. It was still true that he slept less than she did. So getting the chance to watch him do it was enough to make her lean up on an elbow and smile down at him.

The angles and planes that made up his face fascinated her. Relaxed and at peace, the shallowness of his cheeks had faded. The tiny lines around his eyes were smoothed away.

_He really is beautiful_, she thought.

Milla grinned as she studied him, thinking about how he already knew that. She'd tell him later anyway because it seemed to matter that she thought so. He always smiled like she'd given him a gift when she said things like that.

Sitting up carefully, she was intent on letting him sleep. If she got up with her alarm for work, he was always up immediately too. But today she wouldn't be going in. They deserved a day together after what they'd been through. And he deserved more of the peace she saw in his face.

Smiling at the rumpled mess their bed had become after their reunion last night, she tiptoed out of the room intent getting her customary cup of strong coffee.

She sat and stared impatiently at her coffee maker while it sputtered along. After a few minutes, she poured herself a cup and went to sit on the couch and relax since she had the time.

Milla froze with surprise as the patio door across from her slid open. An intruder stood in the doorway watching her; hazel eyes wild and glittering. It was a woman with red hair and cut to a spiky pixie style. She was tall and lean, wearing blue jeans, boots and a black bustier under a black leather motorcycle jacket. One hand was tucked behind her as she stood there, her eyes narrowed.

"Well, aren't you just precious?" She spoke with a slow southern drawl; drawing out the last word and making it a mockery. Wild eyes moved over Milla knowingly.

Milla's eyes moved over the stranger, noting the daylight ring and the fact that she'd not passed the threshold. Vampire.

"Has he told you he loves you? He tells everyone that." The words were a whispered sneer, one side of her lip curling up as she spoke.

That insult brought Milla to her feet, her temporary paralysis forgotten.

"I think you should leave." Milla growled at her in warning, her voice low, her eyes shifting to solid gold.

But the female vampire went on like Milla hadn't spoken. "But he's stayed with you." Mad eyes went hard and narrow with hate.

"I've waited a century for Niklaus Mikaelson…" She spat the name out hatefully before she went on. "to prove he actually has a heart..."

Still beyond the threshold, the red head smoothly pulled a black Colt .45 from the waistband of her jeans as she went on. "so I could break it."

The intruder fired three times in quick succession at point blank range. The shots rang out, the sounds shattering the peace of their home. Milla didn't even understand she was looking at a gun until the deed was done. She took all three bullets in a tight pattern at center mass.

Milla heard a crash upstairs over the rushing sound of her heart. Abruptly wind filled the room and stole her breath.

She was thrown back toward the couch by the impact. Klaus was there to catch her as she fell. His arms came around her from behind as he slid them both to the floor. Her hands moving automatically to her chest, she watched the blood pump out around them. It spread rapidly across her white t-shirt. Dimly she thought it looked like a rose bud opening.

Klaus watched with horror as blood poured out of Milla. With all his speed and strength, when it mattered most, Klaus was utterly useless. All he could do was catch her as she fell.

The sharp report of the automatic handgun as it fired woke him. Too late. He was too late. His eyes were already filled with tears.

Silver. Everything in him knew it was silver bullets in that gun. The woman beyond their threshold turned a malicious smile on him and with that said it all.

He slid with Milla to the floor, frozen in horror.

"What have you DONE?" Klaus bellowed at stranger. His only answer was that same hateful smile and mad eyes that glittered at him from the patio doorway.

Milla was coughing, blood splattering from her mouth as she did, and gasping tightly for air. The bullets were in a tight pattern at the center of her chest and he uselessly pressed his hands to the wounds while blood flowed out around his fingers.

He knew he should kill the murderous stranger. But he also knew he only had the span of a few breaths left with Milla. Wasting her last moments on retribution was unthinkable. He couldn't move while her heart still beat.

Klaus was saying "No" over and over under his breath as he rocked her back and forth. He turned her chest to his, wishing uselessly that he could take the bullets, the pain, all of it…absorb it somehow.

His mind desperately ran down ways to stop it. Giving her his blood wasn't an option. Now that her curse was active, it would harm her rather than heal her. Helpless terror made his hands shake as he listened to her heart flounder in its beat.

Milla's eyes opened and there was a loud wet gasp as golden eyes met his. One bloody hand came to his face.

"Love you." She gasped tightly, her lips wet with her blood.

Tears filled his eyes and flowed freely down his cheeks. He pressed his face to her neck.

"Please." Klaus was whispering brokenly against her throat. "Stay with me."

She coughed again, and he heard her say, "My promise."

Another ragged gasp escaped her and he grew still, listening to her heart as it sputtered weakly to a stop.

_Neyla was right._ The sun really had burned out, leaving his world dark and cold. His old, ravaged heart stopped with hers.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Murderous fury rose up as Klaus turned on the stranger, his eyes completely red, his jaw set and tears still streaming down his cheeks. But before he could move, Milla's body rippled and shuddered against him. Her heart was silent, but her lifeless body was rocked with what seemed like a seizure as he still held her tightly against his chest.

It was then that he heard it; the concentrated sound of many bones breaking and shifting at once. She was still pressed against him. Her heart was silent, but she was rapidly shifting as he held her.

Furniture was crowded out of the way. The wood of the coffee table splintered as it was pushed with crushing force against a wall to make room for her.

Milla's massive golden eyes opened and her heart came to life again like a freshly wound clock. Its beat was strong and fast. The sound was heavenly music to Klaus' ears.

Milla's wolf was lying where she had been, her broad golden chest pressed to his. Amber eyes opened and glittered down at him. A tongue nearly as long as his arm licked him once across the side of his face before she stood to all four feet.

The golden wolf turned and coughed suddenly. Three blood covered silver bullets landed on the floor near her snout.

Great golden eyes turned on the stranger. That one had shifted from her pose of leaning, arms crossed with satisfaction, against the outside of the sliding glass door frame. She now stood, staring with gaping horror. Milla's head went down, her body poised and a roar of unrestrained fury erupted that would be heard for miles.

Milla's wolf leapt at the stranger, who had turned and was rushing down the patio steps in horrified, instinctive escape. Milla's massive form crushed through the patio door, taking down most of the frame and all of the glass as she passed. One leap off the balcony and she dropped gracefully the ten feet to the grass to take down the would-be murderer. She caught the vampire with a roar of triumph, between great jaws.

Klaus stood, still shaken with the wonder of it, as Milla savaged the vampire in their back yard. She took her apart with sharp teeth, one piece at a time.

An hour later Klaus was waiting for her on the foot of their bed when she emerged from the shower. She'd been covered in blood when it was done.

Denim blue eyes moved over her, shadowed dimly with pain and still red rimmed. She went quietly into his arms and he pressed his face into her chest, towel and all, as she stood there. Both her arms came around him, moving slowly over his hair and down his back.

His breath rasped in and out.

"I _heard_ you die. _Felt_ you die." He whispered against her chest raggedly.

Milla had been wondering about her reaction to silver already, actually. A few weeks ago, while looking at John's old coin collection at the garage, she had examined a dollar piece made in nineteen thirty five closely in her hands. She'd wondered over it with him until he told her it was nearly solid silver. Learning that, she'd dropped it like it was a hot potato. But there were no burns. Her skin should have sizzled. She'd seen it happen to others before. Burns and blisters should have risen up, just at the contact.

At the time she'd wondered at it, but then she'd dismissed it as her focus shifted elsewhere.

Now, today, she knew for certain she wasn't allergic to silver. That, just like everything that should have been true for her as a Were, was wrong. She could change at will and wasn't forced to change with the moon. She could heal almost instantly.

Milla had tried to explain to Klaus what was happening when he caught her, but she'd not been able to get the words out. She'd felt the bullets moving from her chest to her lungs, in search of the path of least resistance on their way back out again. The process, evidently, had stopped her heart for a few seconds.

A story Elijah had told her recently about a werewolf leader named Jonah Walker ran through her mind while she'd been in the shower. Everything that Milla was finding was true about herself seemed to be reflected in this other Were. Elijah said he'd had to use all of his strength and speed to tear that wolf's heart from his chest to kill him fifteen years ago. Evidently Milla was also going to be equally hard to kill. She wasn't the first like this at least. That, in itself, was a comfort somehow.

"Who was she?" Milla whispered, wondering about the vampire she'd just killed. Her cheek was propped against the crown of his bowed head.

He drew a deep breath and sat back to look up at her.

Klaus shook his head. "I honestly have no idea." He said, his tone confused.

"I have a very good memory. Faces especially. I have never seen that woman in my life." His dark blue eyes watched her, worry shining in them. Milla understood that he was concerned she would doubt his word.

She sat next to him, pulling him closer. "It doesn't matter and I believe you. She's dead now and won't be hurting anyone else."

Milla hoped to be a comfort but she could still feel a tension in him she didn't understand.

_Why is he still upset?_ She wondered. _We won_.

At sunrise the following morning Milla's alarm went off and she was headed for the shower when she noticed a duffel bag sitting at the bedroom door. Klaus was gone from bed when she woke, but that wasn't unusual. Sometimes he was up and restless all night. But the duffel bag was new. A quick peek told her it was filled with his clothes. Jeans, t-shirts and toiletries.

She called for him and went in search, duffel bag in hand, when he didn't answer. He was sitting alone in the living room with the lights off.

"What is this? Are we going somewhere?" She asked as she dropped it at his feet.

"No. We are not. But I am." His voice was harsh and tight.

A sick feeling rolling up from her stomach, Milla just stood there, noting his lean frame was buckled with tension just as it had been last night.

"I don't understand." Her voice sounded harsh to her ears now, too.

"I am leaving." He stood and hefted the heavy bag over his shoulder like it was nothing.

"When will you be back?" The words rushed out of her and she laid a hand on his arm to get him to look at her.

Klaus grew still and turned back, but would only look at her hand on his arm. She could see he was making a point of not meeting her eyes. He knew she could get a read on his emotions if he did. He was guarded; hiding from her.

"I will not be back, love." A simple whisper of words and she felt like he'd struck her. She stepped back, stunned. "You should go to Elena or your father." He told her quietly.

"You're _leaving_ me." Her voice caught, making her words sound choked. Her eyes had filled with tears.

"I am _choosing _you." He stepped close, a hand at her cheek. Tenderly he pressed his lips to her forehead and she watched him close his eyes as he did it.

He turned away and Milla watched him square his shoulders through a blur of tears.

She blinked and the click of the door told her he was gone. Milla followed him out, but the porch was abandoned. Klaus was gone.

Calls to his cell phone went straight to voicemail. After the second try, Milla didn't call anymore.

A few weeks later Milla drove home from work, her every move on autopilot. Another empty night in an empty house. It had been exactly thirty two days since Klaus walked away. She didn't speak of it to anyone. Listening to everyone tell her this was just what he did was more than she could bear. The sympathy or I-told-you-so looks would make her crazy. She'd probably shift in fury and eat someone just to make it stop.

So she quietly mourned instead, only allowing the tears to come when she was alone. If she gave in, let it out for anyone to see, she was afraid she'd never stop crying.

The hurt was bone deep. She didn't understand. How he could love her one minute and walk away for the last time the next? Milla had believed him. Every word. Like a foolish child, still bright eyed and innocent, she'd taken everything he told her as absolute truth. Looking back, she now questioned everything, every word between them, analyzing it endlessly while she searched for understanding.

The isolation was the worst of it, though. She knew she was doing it to herself. People who loved her would support her through the pain, but she didn't have the courage to ask. So she didn't even admit he wasn't here. Not to anyone.

Klaus had evidently bought the land and the house outright. She watched the mail for a mortgage bill, or any bills, really, and none came. So she stayed and pretended to the whole world that nothing had changed.

She admitted to herself every time she looked in the mirror that she was a coward who lacked the strength or the courage to move on without him. It was humiliating. She knew she should have more pride. But the very thought of walking away from this place felt like a betrayal of herself.

Milla really did love him. Still loved him, in fact.

At home she stripped off her clothes at the door and dropped them in the laundry room. She passed the full length mirror on the closet door without stopping. She already knew she'd see blue smudges under her red eyes, sunken cheeks and that the bones of her ribs and hips were starting to show. Wandering listlessly into the shower, she washed off another day without him and let the spray wash away her tears.

After staring uselessly into the refrigerator and finding nothing worth even the effort of pretending to eat, she sat on the couch and watched the lights from the muted television flicker.

A chime of the doorbell made her go still. At best it was another moment she'd lie for him, that he was running late, would call them, or had probably forgotten something important. At worst she might be looking at another lunatic with a gun and murder in their eyes.

The chime came again, the button smashed more forcefully this time. Whoever it was felt impatient and it showed.

Approaching the door slowly, she looked through the peephole and saw a face she didn't recognize. A woman. Again.

She looked down at herself. She was without a bra and wearing a faded concert t-shirt with mismatched khaki shorts. Her feet were bare and her hair still wet from the shower. She wondered if she stayed still maybe the woman would just go away.

The doorbell chimed again. The woman hit it three times now, for good measure.

Through the door, a high accented voice said, "I know there's someone there. I'll keep ringing forever if I have to." The accent was English and the tone determined.

_Damn it._

Milla turned the knob and stood staring at the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen.

She had long, platinum blonde hair that lay in tamed waves around her face and hung to below her shoulders. It spiraled around her face loosely accenting high cheekbones and flawless skin. Dark blue eyes were accented perfectly with makeup and one eyebrow was up. She wore a navy blue sundress and matching heels. On her arm was a designer handbag and her nails were perfectly professionally manicured.

The beautiful young woman was rich, pampered, coiffed and perfect. The contrast between the two of them thrummed like a neon sign to Milla.

"You must be the little werewolf." Dark blue eyes swept over her scornfully. She'd been leaning against the door frame and looked closely at her hand, rubbing two fingers together with disgust like she'd been soiled by the contact.

Her eyes were narrowed and her nose flared like she smelled something unsavory as she looked around at the house behind Milla.

"How….quaint." There was the disdain again from this stranger.

"What can I do for you, exactly?" Milla asked, her own tone mirroring the contempt in the stranger's. This was her home and, more importantly, her front porch.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" The blonde made a halfhearted effort at a smile, her eyes hard.

That's when Milla realized something she'd missed at first. This person was self-important and insulting. If she could, she would've barged in by now. _But she couldn't._ Milla scanned her perfect hands and found no silver ring. She lacked a daylight ring that usually identified a vampire. But she needed an invitation to come in. _Strange._

"You'll have to forgive me, but I don't think so. The last of your kind that came here uninvited tried to kill me and ended up a greasy stain on my lawn." Milla's lips spread to a malicious smile, her own brows up.

Milla's eyes hard, she repeated her question. "So, again, what can I do for you exactly?"

The blonde rolled her eyes before she answered. "I'm here for Klaus."

Milla's heart squeezed in her chest. Just the sound of his name had the power to do that. But this was so much worse. Now glamorous female vampires were coming looking for him. Milla knew herself well enough to know she was attractive. But this one….she was everything that Milla was not.

"He's not here right now." Milla knew the words came out sounding toneless and empty, but it was all she had the heart for anymore.

The dark blue eyes darted around her at the dark living room and the silent television. The woman tipped her head back and drew in the scents of Milla's home.

"It seems he's not been here for a while, now." One brow went up and she smiled coldly. "He's left you. _That's_ a little more like the brother I know and love."

Milla grew still, studying the woman before she shook her head.

"Klaus doesn't _have_ a sister." As Milla said the words, the woman's eyes grew harder than they'd already been.

She leaned against the barrier with one shoulder. It was strange, the skin of her shoulder compressed under the mild pressure like there really was something solid there.

"Typical Klaus. I annoy him, so he disowns me for a while. I don't even remember what it was this time. I probably killed someone he liked or had plans for." She shrugged a shoulder like it was nothing and her dark blue eyes grew wistful for a moment before she looked away.

"They're all going to die eventually, anyway. I don't see the big deal."

All Milla could do was stare at her profile. This vampire saw no value in human life, or otherwise, evidently. Definitely lacking humanity. Is this how Klaus had thought when he was without his? It was horrible, just hearing it, much less seeing it in action.

The woman turned back and met Milla's horror filled eyes.

"I am Rebekah Mikaelson. I am what you would call the blackest black sheep of our little family. So…where exactly can I find my brother?"

Rather than answering, Milla walked away and reached for her cell phone.

On the second ring, Elijah picked up.

"Do you have a sister?" Milla asked, getting straight to the point.

Elijah sputtered for a second at the abrupt question before he answered, "Well, yes."

"A blonde named Rebekah?"

"You've seen her?" Elijah's tone turned cautious.

"I'm looking at her right now. You should get over here." Milla was watching Rebekah continue to lean casually against the barrier.

"Why is Klaus not handling this?"

"Because he's not here." Milla managed to force the words out, but they sounded strangled.

Elijah ended the call abruptly and Milla knew he'd be there in a very few minutes. She just had to wait it out now.

Rebekah stayed where she was, but Milla heard her sigh.

"Oh, yay." Rebekah mumbled sarcastically to herself. "Not exactly the brother I had in mind."

Rebekah turned suddenly back and ran contemptuous eyes over Milla again.

"I heard in the city that Niklaus had taken up with a wolf. Mated, even." She feigned a shudder of disgust. "That was always the line he wouldn't cross. Never touched a wolf. Told me he despised them."

Another hateful look ran over Milla before Rebekah said, "What makes _you_ so special?"

Milla's eyes shifted to solid gold, sheer hatred pounding through her with every beat of her heart. She took the five steps to close the distance between them. Her wolf roared for freedom she wasn't going to give it. No matter what she said, this was Klaus' sister. The one he'd never bothered to tell her about.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Milla growled at her.

With that, she slammed the door in Rebekah's face, but she could hear her taunting laughter through the door. She turned and headed up the stairs to their bedroom.

Milla still thought of it as _their_ bedroom. In her heart of hearts, she been hoping he'd change his mind and come home. But, if his sister was telling the truth, it might've just been a game or an experiment to Klaus. She was just something different to him. He hated she-wolves, after all.

But he truly loved novelty, something he'd never seen or done. He always said there was very little that was new and fresh to him anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Milla moved painfully through her days and nights. She just barely managed to side step questions from Elijah. Evidently Rebekah didn't divulge what she knew. It did make up for her nastiness, but only a little. More than anything, Milla was grateful Rebekah didn't come again. That was not someone she felt much like dealing with in her current state.

John watched her carefully at work, but said nothing. Her focus shifted in and out, making her job more complicated by the day. He was already healed from his fracture, so technically he didn't have to let her stay, but he remained silent for some reason. There would come a time soon that she'd be more of a liability around here than an asset. She could read the writing on the wall. It was likely she'd be needing a real job soon anyway.

On a sunny Friday afternoon, exactly seventy four days after Klaus walked away, Milla was on a slide board under a classic Impala searching out a leak in the brake line. She grew still as a scent she recognized filled the place and her heart started to pound.

_No, no, no,_ she was thinking, her mind shouting the word. She slid quickly from under the car and sat up to look around.

Standing in the middle of the garage was Rebekah. She looked impeccable again. A white leather sheath dress and white heels. She was talking to John and preening while she spoke. Milla's heart turned over in her chest as she stood and moved in their direction.

Without saying a word she stepped between Rebekah and John. She stood there with her arms crossed and her eyes hard before she reached back with one hand to stop John from stepping around her. He was attempting to apologize for her behavior.

Her voice low, eyes locked with Rebekah's, she said, "John, why don't you take the guys out for bowling or something this afternoon? She and I have some things to work out. And this will probably get messy."

John froze at her tone, noting the quiet caution and the glare Milla was giving the fancy newcomer.

Rebekah tipped her head back and laughed.

"Plucky little thing, aren't you?" Rebekah said through her laughter.

John watched the charm strip away from the woman in white with her open contempt. Understanding there was danger here, he began to back away slowly.

"These men are my friends. So I will protect them. I might not be able to kill you, but I can do damage. And I promise I'll ruin that expensive dress of yours." Milla's words were a quiet rumble through gritted teeth.

Her promise struck home, evidently, because Rebekah paused to look down at her dress before she shrugged casually.

"None of that will be necessary. I'm not actually here to hurt anyone. I came to talk to you. Privately." Rebekah smiled grudgingly and raised a brow as she spoke.

Milla thought fast. Separating this viper from the guys was the most important thing. Milla gestured broadly to the breakroom, intending that Rebekah go first because she wasn't going to take eyes off of her for a second.

Milla turned and winked at John as she followed Rebekah out of the room. He looked shaken, but nodded as he watched them walk away together.

She closed the door and went to sit across from Rebekah, who had taken a seat at one of the corner tables. After a wordless moment, Rebekah pulled a folded paper out of her white designer purse and slapped it on the table.

"Elijah says that Klaus has his humanity again." Dark blue eyes locked with Milla's over the table and she seemed to be waiting for Milla to confirm that. Milla only nodded.

"Damn." Rebekah said under her breath. She leaned back in her chair.

"I decided to get someone to locate him for me. A scrying spell." She reached for the paper and unfolded it. It turned out to be a large map of the United States.

"I expected to find him in New York, L. A. or maybe Vegas. Somewhere that I know he would enjoy." She frowned as she pointed to a red mark on the map. "Instead I'm told he's here."

Her manicured finger pointed toward the mountains of East Tennessee and she curled her nose up with distaste.

"Why, in the name of all that's unholy, would he go to the mountains?"

Milla shook her head. "Maybe it was unclear before. He decided not to be my problem anymore. I don't know why he would go there."

Rebekah grew still as she watched Milla closely.

"Elijah also tells me the two of you are very much in love." Milla was expecting an eye roll or something nasty to go with that sentence, but the other woman just looked at her. Rebekah's hard expression had softened.

After a moment, Milla shrugged and looked away as she said, "Elijah doesn't know everything."

"I gathered that, too." Rebekah's tone was gentle and her blue eyes speculative. Milla swallowed hard as she looked up to meet that speculation across the table.

"Do you love my brother?" Rebekah whispered the question and waited.

To her horror, Milla's eyes filled with tears while this vicious stranger watched.

Rebekah closed her purse and reached for the map, folding it carefully. After looking at it for a moment, she laid it back onto the table and pushed it over to Milla with a single perfect finger planted in the middle of it. Leaving it there, she stood and headed for the door.

Stopping when she reached it, she turned back and said, "My source says he made his way to a cabin there and just stopped. He's been there for more than two months with no indication he's ever come back out again."

Rebekah shrugged as she said, "If that was someone I loved, I would be concerned."

"Why are you not going?" It was clear to Milla that Rebekah had no intention of going if she was leaving the map on the table.

"Because with his humanity, he'll be a stranger to me." She lifted a brow. "And I don't think it's me he needs."

Rebekah turned and grasped the doorknob when Milla spoke again. "You're not as much of a bitch as you wanted me to think, are you?"

Rebekah didn't turn around as she answered, "I just have a soft spot for broken hearts. I really am a bitch. Don't let me fool you." She opened the door before she spoke again.

"I also really do love my brother, infuriating though he is. Elijah says you make him happy. The centuries have taught me that's hard to come by. So….go. Make him happy."

Milla stood at the breakroom window and watched Rebekah walk back out of the garage again without incident.

Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest as her eyes strayed to the map.

John stepped into the breakroom and closed the door interrupting her dilemma before it got started.

Milla sighed before she spoke, pretty sure she knew where this was going. "You don't have to ask me not to come back. I understand."

He shook his head as he took a seat. "Nobody said anything about you leaving."

Milla slid into the seat next to him. "My work has sucked. I know that. And now there are dangerous people coming here because of me. You'd be right to tell me to go. For your safety. For everyone's."

John leaned an elbow on the table. "Did you know that Kyle's wife left him last year?"

Milla sat back confused by the question and didn't answer.

"He was useless for six months. The others quietly checked his work, made sure he was up to snuff until he could get his head on straight. He's now one of my best workers. The guys have been doing for you just what they did for Kyle. When things get bad, we pull together here. Like family. That includes you, too, now."

Milla covered her face with both hands, overcome.

"And, as far as you putting anyone in danger, what I saw a few minutes ago looked like you ready to give your life for us." John's gravelly voice caught and Milla looked up at him. "I heard you tell her you already knew you couldn't beat her."

"I'm figuring that chick was the equivalent of Jack the Ripper." His expression asked her to confirm or deny that.

"More like Attila the Hun." Milla told him. A few words from Elijah when she'd asked about Rebekah were enough for her to fill in the details for herself.

John shook his head at that. "That bad?"

"Unstoppable." She told him with a dark frown though it hurt her pride to admit it.

"But you stood and didn't back down anyway." John's green eyes were kind with a tinge of admiration. Milla only shrugged and felt herself flush.

"I couldn't let her…." Milla didn't finish the sentence, but John was already nodding.

"My point exactly. I figure these people have been around for ages and I'm only just now made aware that there's any danger. Because of you. So, no more talk of bailing on us. Okay?" He reached across the table and laid one massive hand over hers.

Feeling like a fool, Milla's eyes filled again and she nodded.

"Who was Miss Fancy Pants, anyway?"

"That was Klaus' sister."

John smiled and shook his head. "And I thought my in-laws were a nightmare."

"He's not my…." Milla choked on trying to get the denial out.

"But you're miserable without him. Maybe you should rethink that." Milla grew still and looked up at him then. She'd not spoke of it to anyone except Rebekah just a few minutes ago.

"It's not that hard to put together." John shook his head again. "You're wasting away and English is nowhere to be seen." Green eyes studied her, asking probing questions with his gaze that he refused to put to words.

Buckling under the weight of his scrutiny, she decided there wasn't much point in denying it.

"There are some things in his past that are bad. One of them sort of fell in on us and it turned sour really quick. We were okay. But he walked away the next morning." She gave him the stripped bare version while staring wide eyed at the table.

John seemed to chew on that before he finally spoke. "You can't repeat this, but my wife Stephanie went through the same kind of thing when we first got together."

Milla looked up at him, questions in her eyes.

"She's a couple of years older than me. When I met her, she was an exotic dancer." John dropped that bit of information like it was nothing.

Milla's mouth was the one with her mouth dropped open for a change. She'd met Stephanie a few times. The small red head was a sweet, happy mid-thirties housewifey type in ball caps, jeans and tennis shoes. She regularly brought in homemade baked goods that were out of this world.

John laughed at her reaction. "She decided after she met my family that she wasn't good enough for me because of it. Walked away for my own good. She thought it would reflect on me, cause problems for the business I wanted to start."

Milla was speechless.

John smiled wistfully and focused his gaze over Milla's shoulder as he remembered. "I went after her because I already loved her. It took some fast talking, but I managed to convince her that there was no future worth having if I couldn't have her in it."

"Maybe English needs to hear that pretty badly too…..if it's true, of course." Milla understood from his expression that John was putting together that Klaus might have once been in the same league as his poisonous sister.

"One thing I can tell you, though. After seeing you together, that guy has got it _bad_. As a man in love myself, I know the signs."

Milla spent the rest of the day thinking about what both Rebekah and John had said. She carried the folded map in her back pocket and every time her thoughts would stray to it, her heart would pound.

_Was Klaus okay? Was he injured somehow? Was he hurting as much as she did? Did he need reassurance that he was worth any trouble that might come along because of his past?_

Other options occurred to her too, the darker ones. Had he shacked up with a gorgeous woman like the ones she'd had to threaten a time or two? Was he sitting somewhere laughing at the memory of her and how foolishly she'd believed everything he said as gospel truth? Had he set aside his humanity again?

The last ones didn't really make sense with the idea that he'd gone to a cabin in the mountains and not left it since. But they were there, in her mind, accusing her of being a fool for even considering going after him like Rebekah suggested.

Milla climbed into her car and closed the door, thinking hard.

Finally she pulled out her cell phone and made a call. A few minutes later she was headed for Mystic Falls. She needed someone she could trust that could get her some answers. There was only one person that fit that bill and Milla had not seen her in months.

Bonnie was standing on the sidewalk when Milla pulled up. Her long curly hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail at the back of her neck and she wore a loose black peasant blouse and denim shorts. Milla didn't get much farther than a few steps from her car before Bonnie was rushing up with her arms wide to hug her up.

"Oh, sweetie. I'm so glad to see you." Bonnie said when she got her arms around Milla.

"I am terrible that it took needing something for me to come by. I'm sorry." Milla leaned down and rested her chin on Bonnie's shoulder, grateful for the warm familiarity of her hugs.

Bonnie stepped back and wove an arm around Milla, turning them both back toward the house.

"I will take whatever I can get and be grateful as long as I get to see you." Bonnie's voice caught for a second when she said that and Milla wondered why.

They went together into Bonnie's small house and Milla sat in the living room while Bonnie insisted on bringing her a cup of fresh coffee. Milla looked around her, finding that very little had changed. There were small houseplants hanging from every corner or sitting on every surface. All of them were green and lush, giving the whole room a distinctly "alive" feel. She sat on a taupe couch with a bright handmade quilt draped over its back. A cherry coffee table glistened up at her and a wool area rug in colors that matched the quilt was under her feet. Bonnie's home had always seemed warm, feminine and homey to Milla.

Bonnie returned with a cup of coffee for each of them and sat next to Milla on the couch.

After an appreciative sip, Bonnie looked up at Milla with questions in her eyes.

Milla drew a breath to gather her courage. Bonnie was not a big fan of Klaus. Milla knew her well enough to know it was justified.

"I need help finding someone."

Bonnie smiled. "Isn't there an app for that?"

Milla laughed. There wasn't going to be a way to hedge into this. Bonnie was too straightforward for that.

"It's Klaus. He and I had some drama and he walked away. It's been a couple of months and I'm hearing now that he might be in trouble. But I don't trust the person who told me."

Bonnie sputtered into a full blown gale of laughter.

Milla smiled at her, but was confused and it must've shown on her face.

Bonnie pulled herself together with effort before she spoke again.

"I'm sorry. I love irony. I'm not happy he might be in trouble." A small shoulder came up in a shrug. "It's just that, years ago when he first came to this area, I was just coming into my power. My first spells, sad though they were, were in an attempt to either stop or get rid of Klaus. Now, all these years later, I'm asked to find him…to _help him_, of all things. Life has brought me full circle. It just struck me funny."

Milla looked at her hands. "I got a glimpse recently of what that might've looked like. His sister dropped by the house a few weeks ago."

Bonnie gasped. "Rebekah? Are you okay?"

Milla only nodded. "She's awful, though."

Bonnie grinned. "A gift for understatement. You sound like…." Her voice trailed off and Milla met her eyes.

Pain blew through Milla like a strong wind. Shame and regret whizzed by along with it. A single name echoed through her mind, echoing in Bonnie's voice. _Elena._

Milla moved close and wrapped arms around Bonnie. She didn't know why she hadn't seen Bonnie at holidays over at Elena's house, but she knew that no one spoke her name around Elena. Something bad had happened and Bonnie was hurting, even now.

"I'm sorry. No matter what's actually going on, I know Elena loves you too."

Bonnie drew a ragged breath and closed the hug. They were still for a moment before Bonnie leaned back and met Milla's eyes again.

"I didn't know you are an empath." Her eyes moved over Milla's face. "A strong one too. I have some basic wards against that sort of thing and you just blew through them like a freight train."

"A…..what?" Milla had never heard the word she used. There was a name for this?

"You can feel other people's emotions."

Milla sat back on the couch, shaking her head as she went.

Bonnie turned on the couch and faced her. "You didn't know?"

"I know I understand people pretty well. I can sometimes get a read on them with eye contact."

Bonnie gestured with one hand. "Well, there you go."

"So….when I do that, I'm right?" Milla asked. She was thinking of how often she'd met Klaus' eyes and felt his love flow over her. With everything else, she'd started to doubt any of it was real.

Bonnie was nodding. "Yeah, I heard your aura hum when you did it, just now. There's real power there. Probably inherited."

_He loves me_, Milla thought, her heart singing in her chest. But reality invaded quickly to remind her that he walked away and people's hearts could change.

Milla watched in silence as Bonnie made herself busy gathering the things she would need and returned with everything to push aside their cups and a plant on the cherry coffee table. She laid out a world map and pulled out a clear crystal that hung from a very long gold chain.

Bonnie spoke a few words and Milla watched the crystal spark in the center like a match had been struck. She held the crystal on the chain and it swung like a pendulum several times close to the table's surface. After a minute it stopped dead in its tracks, pulling Bonnie's hand down hard with it to strike the map.

Milla watched Bonnie's eyes go wide.

"Well, this is weird. It's saying Tennessee here in the US." Milla met her eyes and nodded.

"So your information was good?" Bonnie asked.

"Only if you confirm it." Milla nodded toward the map. "Can you retrace his steps? Tell me where he's been in that area?"

Bonnie pulled out a larger, more detailed map of the area. She glanced at a candle she'd brought with her and it burst into flame on its own. She spoke some words Milla didn't understand and turned the candle upside down over the map. The trail of melted wax pooled together and formed a thin line that followed a clear path across the map.

"I expected this would be a mess, with paths crisscrossing. But Klaus went in and didn't come out." Bonnie's brows were up with surprise and her eyes wide as she turned to Milla.

Milla only nodded. "I was told that too."

"Then I'd say there's something going on with him. He was always a social creature when I knew him. Parties. Concerts. Plays. Anywhere that there was a wide crowd of people. Easy hunting."

Milla couldn't help it but shudder at the implications.

"That's not who he is anymore, though." Somehow Milla was still defending him.

Bonnie smiled. "I know, honey. But this is strange by any standards. And, there's one more thing." She stood and left the room. When she came back she had a small leather pouch that she handed to Milla. The draw string was already tied in a knot.

"There's a strong locating spell already attached to him. My crystal glowing like it did signaled it. When you find him, burn the contents of this in a glass dish and let the smoke move over him. That'll be an end to it. As it stands right now, he's glowing like a neon sign for anyone who knows how to look."

Bonnie's eyes narrowed a little as she went on, "Because I assume you're going after him."

Milla nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Niklaus could feel himself drifting. He was somewhere between waking and dreaming or maybe it was living and dying. He'd been there for days, or was it weeks? He couldn't be sure. They felt the same. There was darkness all around him and a stillness that masqueraded as peace.

But there was no peace. No joy. Not without _her. _He wouldn't let himself even think her name. It hurt too much, bringing with it the memory of her smiles and her laughter. Her name would bring her face, swirling around him in the darkness. He couldn't go through that again.

A scent interrupted his thoughts, filling his senses. Lavender.

He felt a jerk and he was slammed back in what was left of his body, the pain bone deep and physical again. He opened his eyes with effort, searching the inky darkness of the living room for the source of this new scent.

His body had shut down around him. He was frozen. Nearly every nerve, muscle and bone was locked into stillness. An indrawn breath, when he finally remembered to try, came out as an echoing gasp in the silence of the room. He was alone. He had been here, alone, for weeks.

_Or was it months? _ He wondered again.

His gasping breath brought more of the floral scent with it. He despised the smell of lavender. And the scent grew stronger. His eyes adjusted to the darkness allowing him to see clearly again. This, at least, he could still do. A flicker of movement in the deepest shadow drew his attention and his withered heart started to pound.

Lavender and shadows. His own personal nightmare.

From that same shadow, silver eyes shimmered back at him. He gasped again, his heart picking up speed. This was what kept him awake while the world slept, stole his peace as nothing ever had. Even memories of Father weren't as terrible as this could be.

A small woman emerged slowly from the shadows. She had porcelain skin, dark ruby lips and smooth hair as black as midnight that spanned out behind her as she moved. She wore a billowing black sleeveless dress and her lavender scent pulsed in the room.

"Nothing like a little fear and hatred to get that ancient heart of yours pumping again, is there?" She asked him the question as she took a slow turn around the room in the darkness, stopping periodically to cast those haunting silver eyes his way.

"It stopped, you know. Your heart." She ran a small finger along a shelf and rubbed the dust between her fingertips.

Everything in him wanted to stand and face her, or brace for what was to come at least. But he was couldn't move. He was helpless and facing his own personal boogeyman. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. She'd finally come for him.

"I haven't though." She took a seat on the edge of the small glass coffee table. "Come for you."

Of course. She could hear his thoughts. He'd forgotten, with it having been so long since he'd seen her. _And after all,_ _devils did that._

She laughed, eavesdropping again. The laugh was small and light, lacking the mockery he was accustomed to.

"What_ have_ you come for, then?" His voice was the dry rasp of sandpaper over metal for lack of use.

She met his eyes and smiled. She was beautiful. Her expression should have been warming. It was haunting instead.

"I told you. Your heart stopped." She answered him, her tone conveying only a touch of impatience.

"And I suppose you are here to drag the suffering out as long as possible." He growled at her bitterly.

She leaned forward on her seat and he would've recoiled if he could. Because it was all he had, he closed his eyes, blotting out her image.

"No. Not even close." Her voice was low, kindness lacing her words.

He opened his eyes again to find she was still sitting just where she'd been. He blinked in surprise. There was no attack. She was still just the small dark haired woman rather than one of the horrors he'd seen her become with ease.

"Just a little while longer." She whispered the words to him encouragingly, her head cocked to one side. There was that strange kindness again and it only served to confuse him.

"I don't have to act as your conscience anymore. You have your own. I can be _kind_ now." She was still hearing his thoughts and responding as if he'd spoken them.

She braced an elbow on one knee and planted her chin in it. Her eyes moved over him.

"Why make this choice now, Niklaus? After fighting to stay alive so much, for so long?" She sounded genuinely curious.

He closed his eyes at the question. He didn't have an answer. Or maybe he had too many answers. Facing a future without _her _felt like a torture. But he couldn't push the pain aside to find escape and lose his humanity in the process.

He had not really intended to end up here. Not consciously, anyway. The blood stores he brought ran out and he just neglected to call to arrange deliveries. By the time he did finally try to make the calls, he found the landline in this cabin was disconnected. His cell phone was just as useless so high in the mountains. He'd already become too weak by then and his conscience wouldn't allow him to go hurt someone.

Hopeless, he'd finally sat down to wait for this, for death to come for him. Or something as close as he could get to death.

The silver eyed nightmare spoke again and his eyes opened. He'd forgotten her.

"You're not going to die here." She said it so confidently. "Just hold on. She's almost here."

_She? Who was the devil talking about?_ He wondered dimly.

"The one you won't name. She's coming."

Klaus gasped aloud, his eyes wide. "No." The word drug out of him, on a desperate appeal.

"It's beyond my power to stop her. But I wouldn't, even if I could. You need her."

Klaus was horrified. His eyes burned as he blinked.

"I will kill her." The words came out of him as a terror stricken whisper. If she came too close…. If she tried to help him…..The last time he'd been this far gone, he'd drained three grown men to recover.

"You underestimate her. And yourself." She whispered it to him conspiratorially. With that, she faded away to emptiness. She left behind nothing but an unpleasant memory; the way nightmares do.

Klaus wondered if he'd finally gone insane with the hunger.

The sound of the doorbell peeling made his heart sink in his chest.

It was dark, with the sun long set when Milla pulled up to a large cabin nestled high in the Smoky Mountains. She'd followed Bonnie's map turn for turn and knew for certain he was here. His scent was everywhere. She stood knocking and ringing the loud doorbell for several minutes, but there was no answer.

Finally, worried about him and dreading what she might find, she turned the knob on the front door and found it unlocked. She stepped in to find the door opened into a living room that was shrouded entirely in shadow. Noting that his scent was even stronger, she looked around and called his name.

His voice low and tight, she heard him speak from the corner of the room where she could see absolutely nothing.

"You should not be here." Klaus' voice growled at her from the shadows.

Milla took a step into the room and started to reach for a light switch.

"No!" His voice was harsh. His deep growl became a roar. "Leave the light alone and GET OUT!"

_Well, there it is_, Milla thought. This is the meaner version of him she'd been hearing so much about. He actually did sound pretty terrifying. She guessed that was intended to intimidate her.

"If that's supposed to scare me away, you'll have to do better. I met your sister recently." She implied he wasn't half as scary as his sister, but it wasn't true. Although she mouthed off at him, it made her heart pound enough that she didn't go further into the room and left the light alone.

"Rebekah?" His voice became a breathy gasp, the nastiness gone. "She did not….?" There was a sound that came from him before he could finish speaking, like a shuddering groan. It made Milla's stomach turn over and her hands shake. She wanted to rush to him, but she stayed where she was.

"No. She didn't. I think she wanted to, at first, but no." She heard him sigh.

"You need to get out of here. Go and do not come back." The words were tight, like he'd spoken through gritted teeth.

"I get it. You don't want me. But I'm not leaving until I know you're okay." She crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall in the dark.

_Do not want her? She has to know that is not true, _he thought.

Her scent had filled the space, amplifying the pain at the back of his throat. It was warm and sweetly infused with cinnamon. It brought everything back and made his chest hurt again like before. He would always want her.

Instead of answering her, Milla heard him let out another strange sound, deeper than the first one. It was a groan that drug on followed by a sharply indrawn breath.

"Milla. Please." This time his deep voice was a whisper.

She reached this time and turned on the light.

She gasped at the sight of him. His face was completely gray, his body shriveled. His eyes were ringed in black and sunken, but open and glittering at her. His body was completely still, like it was frozen in place, sitting up in a soft recliner chair and leaned precariously to one side. He looked like a desiccated mummy from a museum she visited once as a child, except that he wore a t-shirt and jeans that hung around him. He was unrecognizable except for his clothing and his scent.

Automatically, she rushed toward him.

"No!" He shouted at her. "If you get too close, I will end up killing you. Please. Just go."

"You are dying." Milla argued, her hands starting to shake.

"Yes. So go and let me do it in peace." He sounded so low and defeated that Milla's heart broke all over again.

She thought of Damon and how Elena had given him blood when Klaus had nearly beat him to death last year.

"But you just need blood." She said it out loud, but she was speaking mostly to herself as she turned toward what she knew would be the kitchen. His blood stores. That was all he would need.

"There is not any." His words were a whisper again.

Milla knew then what she would have to do. She was not going to allow him to die. Not now. Not ever. So what if he didn't want her? It didn't matter. As the only person here, the only source of blood available, his life was now in her hands.

She turned back and went to stand next to his chair, her pulse pounding.

Another groan rose up out of him.

She planted her knees in the chair on either side and straddled him. His eyes were wide with horror, but he couldn't even shake his head. His body really was frozen in place, making him completely helpless.

He closed his eyes, with her so near, like he couldn't bring himself to look at her. He was saying "No" over and over under his breath.

She paused and waited for his eyes to open. Milla met his gaze and it was all there.

Unbearable emotional pain and terror pooled around them. He was terrified he would kill her. And the pain made her whole body hurt, it was so wide and so deep.

"This is okay. Let me help you. Then I promise I'll go away and you'll never see me again. But I can't let you die, Klaus."

"I will drain you. Will not be able to stop. Please." Milla could hear tears in his voice, feel his fear.

She kept her voice low and sweet as she moved closer. Milla was careful not to lean her weight on him because his body seemed so fragile.

"That's just it. You can't kill me. Not this way. I can't let you die. My love." She pressed a hand gently to his withered cheek and his eyes closed with the contact.

As carefully as she could, she turned her head, baring her throat and pressed it to his lips. Her forehead rested on the chair cushion behind his head.

_My love. _She'd never called him that before. Its echo in his mind became her siren song, drawing him in.

Her scent was already driving him mad. Her throat pressed to his mouth, he shuddered weakly again with the pain and his mouth stretched open on its own as instinct kicked in. With the last of his physical strength, his teeth sunk slowly into her before he could stop himself.

A warm, exquisite gush of blood filled his mouth. It was staggering. She tasted like the cinnamon of her scent, spicy and sweet. His lips sealed over the punctures as he pulled hard against her heart and wonder overtook him. He floundered in an endless swirl of pulsing need. The moment felt timeless to him, stretching on and on.

She'd been hovering over him, but after a while her body was pressed tightly against his. Her breath became hot puffs of air against his bare shoulder where his clothes hung on him.

After several minutes, his arms came up to pull her closer with renewing strength. Milla made a husky sound, like a small groan of need. She pushed closer still and trembled as she moved slowly against him, his name a whisper. He drank deeply as smooth lips were pressed to his shoulder and a small, hot tongue ran over skin that was beginning to turn pink again.

This relatively small bit of contact had a cascading effect. A loud groan tore from him and his body shook as it surged up in the chair to move against her, his self-control gone. His hands were fast and clumsy as he tore through the clothing that separated them with both hands.

After a few minutes of frenzied effort they were both uncovered and his hips lifted from his seat while he pulled her down against him. Her head came back, but she remained sealed against his mouth. He continued to drink as they moved together. They were consumed in a raging firestorm of need.

Milla had never been bitten by one of his kind before. She'd expected pain, but there really wasn't any. Instead, her entire body burned and trembled. From the moment he sank his teeth into her it felt like a slow burn had started. The two of them were like flint and steel being struck together.

She wondered from afar off if it was always this way, for anyone he bit. Because she wanted him now with a burning urgency she'd never felt before.

_Dear Heaven._ _No wonder he is in such high demand that women line up to take him from me, _she thought as she pressed her lips to whatever part of him she could reach.

When he removed their clothes and pulled her down on top of him, it felt like she finally flew apart. A climax tore through her like nothing she'd ever felt. It was hot and violent. Klaus let out a roar as he broke the connection with her blood and sucked in air desperately. His head was thrown up and back in abandon. His hips rose from the chair and his entire body tensed and shuddered under her before he grew still again, hands moving slowly over her naked back.

Klaus opened his eyes to find a blood trail over Milla. It was one like he'd left on other victims a million times, over her neck and chest. She was pale, her eyes closed with her forehead resting against the back of the chair. Her pulse was slow and weak. He could hear the beat of her heart as it slowed and struggled just like the last day he'd had with her. It was happening again; this time at his hands.

_I have killed her. I have finally killed her, _he thought, watching her work to breathe shallowly. He wrapped her up, pulling her down and more securely into his arms. He had taken much more than she should have had to offer. He'd managed to be the one to blot out the sun after all.

"I am sorry." He whispered the words over and over into her hair. He must've said it a half dozen times before she finally responded.

She sighed against his ear before she said, "I'm okay."

"You are dying." He argued, his eyes closed because he couldn't bring himself to look at what he'd done. "I did this to you."

"You didn't hurt me." She answered softly against him. "Just another minute and I'll be me again."

Small hands moved down slowly over his arms. Her skin was still pale, her hands cold. He could feel for himself the exact moment those hands weren't cold anymore.

"I heal quickly, remember?" Milla smiled up at him.

Her skin was pink and flushed again. He sank his face into the crook of her neck in relief.

"I thought…" His voice trailed off, unable to go on. He drew deep breaths of her, filling his lungs, cherishing all of her as his eyes welled.

She went up to her knees and pulled him close, resting his head between her breasts. One of her hands moved slowly over his hair. He closed his eyes, feeling like he was being wrapped in tenderness. After a moment he felt her tense and she pulled away to standing.

He watched her stand naked and look around blinking at the tatters of clothes around them. Understanding, he rose and turned to the bedroom. He returned a minute later with two small stacks of clothes and a warm wet washcloth for her. For the blood trail he'd left across her skin.

Now that she was here, he wished for something to say that would fix it all. But nothing had changed. _He would still always be a magnet for mayhem, a blight that would kill her._

He went to stand near the couch and pulled his clothes on slowly, his eyes straying to her over and over. She was beautiful, perfect. But he did notice changes in the stark light of the room. There were sharp angles at her shoulders and her ribs were clearly defined as they'd not been before. Milla was too thin.

He compressed his lips to keep from saying it out loud, but worry kept his eyes on her. Klaus watched her closely as she washed away the blood and dressed in a t-shirt of his and soft pants that were much too big. She drew down the drawstring and stood to put on her shoes.

_Why was she putting on her shoes?_ He wondered.

To distract himself, Klaus turned and walked around the room where his visitor had been from earlier. Was that real, or imagined? He stepped close to a black shelf he'd seen the devil touch. A thin layer of light dust covered it. In the dust there was a mark. He cocked his head to one side and found it was a semicolon and a close parenthesis. Milla had shown him this symbol before. It was a winking smile.

So he wasn't mad with hunger or dreaming earlier, after all. The silver eyed woman had really been here and drawn him back from death so that Milla didn't find a frozen, lifeless corpse. Somehow though, he was too suspicious to be grateful.

Behind him, he heard Milla stand.

"How did your blood supply run out?" She asked quietly.

"I waited too long to try to call and redirect my deliveries. When I did try, I found my cellphone doesn't work so far into the mountains and the land line was down." Klaus turned and leaned against the wall, his eyes on the carpet as he spoke. He didn't explain the desolation that went into all that had happened.

"I'll make the call for you, then, when I get back down the mountain." Her husky voice sounded tight and the implication of her words brought his eyes up swiftly to meet hers. Pain gripped him. She was leaving.

She froze like a deer in headlights as they gazed at one another. He watched her draw a shuddering breath and tear her eyes away with effort.

Milla turned and headed for a small table where she'd left her keys before. With them, she headed for the door.

Desperate, he ran. He closed the distance and stopped, leaned against the door before she reached it, to bar her way.

"You are leaving then?" His heart was in his throat. It was right that she should go. For her safety, she should be as far from him as she could get. But watching her leave felt like more torture.

"I promised I would." She whispered the words and kept her eyes on the floor

He remembered. She had promised him that she would help him and leave so that he never had to see her again. Not a promise he would ever have asked for.

"You saved my life." He could count on one hand the people he'd known who had ever done that. She was the only one who wasn't family.

"I guess we're even. I'll need for you to move, now." She told him quietly.

The pain ricocheted through him. This was a debt to be paid and that was all. A gasp escaped before he could silence it and her eyes came up to meet his with the sound.

She froze again, like a mesmerized deer, her amber eyes focused intently on his. Her breathing stopped for a few seconds before she tore her eyes away and stepped back from him.

He crossed his arms stubbornly, leaned all of his weight on the door and lifted a foot to plant it behind him. Klaus knew it made no sense, but watching her leave made him feel desperately alone.

"Why did you come here, Milla?"

"I was told you might be in trouble. I had to try. I'm glad I did."

"A few minutes more and any threat I might ever be to you would have been eliminated." When he thought about it in that context, what she had just done made no sense.

She finally turned her face up to meet him. Her golden eyes were wide and horror stricken.

She stepped close, her jaw tightly set and laid a hand on his chest.

"You think I would trade your life for my safety?" Her voice had grown deep.

"That woman was likely the first of many who might try to hurt you to get at me. I know you do not blame me for the past. But you are the only one." One of his hands came up to cup her cheek.

"If I am gone, the threat to you is eliminated. Whether it is only physical distance, or it is my death, the result would be the same. You would no longer be a target. You are practical to your very bones. Surely you see the sense of that?"

Her eyes narrowed and her lips became a downward arc. The small hand on his chest drew to a fist, drawing the material of his shirt with it. Her golden eyes snapped at him and flickered to solid gold before the flashed back to normal again.

_She is furious. Why is she furious?_ He wondered.

"So you thought this was the solution?" She gestured to the chair in the room behind them.

Klaus was confused by her angry reaction. He couldn't take credit for it being his plan, but it was the perfect solution. He could only nod.

Her head cocked to one side and her eyes popping at him, she asked, "When I said I loved you, what did that mean to you?"

Again, he was baffled by the question and her anger. Clearly there were right and wrong answers here, but he had no clue what to say. He only lifted a shoulder in a shrug.

"For me, it meant you were more important to me than my safety." She spoke through a tight jaw, the words huskier than usual.

He froze, caught in the shimmer of her gaze.

"I do not understand."

Her other hand came to join the first one, both of them now tight fists grasping onto his shirt.

"I would have taken on the world to be with you. Never in a million years would I have decided you weren't worth any risk. I loved you. And, as for practical? Sometimes all you had to do was walk across a room to make me want you. There were times I sat with my hands balled to fists trying to keep them to myself. Just the look in your eyes could make me want you." She shook her head and looked away. After a breath, she met his eyes again and went on.

"The morning I was attacked, I had spent half an hour watching you sleep and thinking how beautiful you are. What about that seems practical to you?"

He could hardly hear her for the loud thrum of his heart. He knew she looked at him with affection. But she kept distance between them, forcing him to accept that he was second best to whoever would eventually come along and take her from him. It always hurt to think about it, but he couldn't force commitment from her and wouldn't want it that way if he could. Feeling like second in line to someone unknown, he'd believed the risk attached to him now would outweigh what he had to offer. The most important thing to him was keeping her safe. If it took leaving to do that, then he would, and choose her over what he would want for himself.

She'd never said any of these things to him until now. And it sounded like it was too late.

"You speak only in the past tense."

She stepped back, releasing her grip on his shirt and looked away, her gaze settling on the floor again. "I am not as trusting as I once was. But everything else is the same."

Klaus stood staring at the crown of her head, blinking furiously._ A partner who valued him more than herself. _ That had never happened before. He had no context for such a thing. And it was not gone. He hadn't destroyed it in his ignorance. Trust could be rebuilt.

He hauled her roughly into his arms and lifted her up to kiss her, his heart singing in his chest. She gasped and laughed until he distracted her with his lips.

He broke the kiss and leaned back with her still held above the floor against him.

"You will have to forgive me." He met her eyes. "I have never been loved like this either."

Milla remembered the moment he was referring to. She'd tried to give herself up to protect her friends and family, to stop dozens of wolves from being killed due to their misguided and foolish leadership. When it failed, he admitted that her efforts had caused him pain. She had never stopped to consider that she could hurt him that way. She had admitted, when it was done, that she had never been loved that way before.

When he blocked her way she finally got a clear read on him while meeting his eyes. Pain and love, mingled together, had flowed down over her like a river so strong she could barely breathe. He hadn't changed his mind. He loved her and it was tearing him apart. She was the source of that torrent of pain she'd felt from him before.

A flash of insight made her understand that she'd been thinking all this time that the silent communication went both ways. She could feel his love for her when she met his eyes. There had always been an assumption that this was just part of being this close with someone, that he understood her the way she did him. But that wasn't true. He honestly didn't know. So she'd had to find a way to tell him, even if it was too late, because he deserved to know.

"You're just going to have to get used to it, then." Milla told him as she leaned down in his arms because she was still being held high off the floor. Both hands came around to either side of his face as she kissed him. It was slow and sweet.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

An hour later Milla laid on his bed with her hair spread out across the pillow as she faced away from him. Klaus was behind her, an arm draped over her waist and his cheek resting in her hair. He loved her with a fierceness he'd never dreamed was possible. And now he knew she loved him that way too. He closed his eyes, drawing in her scent again, grateful for the peace he found with her.

He sat up and saw that her eyes were still open before he spoke as a question occurred to him.

"How did you know where to find me?" He'd not left word with anyone about where he was going, not really sure himself at the time.

Milla gasped and sat up abruptly as she said, "Ohmygosh!"

He sat up with her, his eyes wide. "What is wrong?"

"I almost forgot." She pulled on the pants he'd lent her and went sprinting down the hall. He heard the jangle of her keys and bolted for the door, following her. He was half afraid she was leaving again. He stood in the doorway watching as she ran to the car, grabbed something from the seat and came springing back in the dark.

She presented a leather draw string pouch to him like it was a prize. His eyes moved over her, still confused.

"Bonnie. She used a locating spell to find you. But she said there's already a strong locator spell attached to you, shining like a beacon for anyone who knows how to look. That," she pointed at the bag in the center of his hand, "will get rid of it."

Klaus grew still, his mind working. A spell that pinpointed his exact location. If it was attached to him, he must've physically tripped it up somewhere, carrying it along with him. It required physical contact to accomplish that.

Milla was taking the bag back and untying the knot to open it.

"Wait." He put a hand over hers to stop her.

Milla's eyes ran over him and she was the one who looked confused now.

"I want to know the source. Give me a few minutes and then we will use your friend's charm to remove it."

Klaus grabbed a tall, tapered candle in its holder and some matches, headed for the bathroom. Milla, curious now, followed him and sat up on the long bathroom vanity watching as he turned off the light. He stood in front of the mirror in the dark and lit the candle. He allowed it to flicker for a few moments before he sat it back in its holder and clapped both hands together on the flame to snuff it out with a loud slap. The spell Neyla used to contact him went both ways. He'd not been the one to open the communication in ages. He could only hope it hadn't been deactivated yet.

Milla stepped close to him in the dark as the mirror lit and began to flicker. After a minute, Neyla's image appeared in the light.

Milla gasped. Neyla echoed it.

"Sir. I had not expected to hear from you." She nodded respectfully, acknowledging him before her dark eyes met Milla's over the miles and Neyla turned back to him.

"Oh! Your sunshine girl!" Neyla's relief was palpable. "For once I am glad to be wrong." A hand came to her chest, a gesture of earnestness and her smile grew wide.

"Hello, Sunshine Girl." Neyla smiled broadly, addressing Milla.

"Hi! I'm just Milla." Milla grinned and made a small wave.

"I am Neyla and I am very relieved you are safe. I thought I saw something bad happen to you. But I must have been wrong." Neyla shrugged broadly, still smiling.

Milla shook her head. "No, you had it right. Three bullets to the heart. It stopped for a bit, but I'm harder to kill than I look."

Neyla's eyes went wide and she moved closer to the mirror, her eyes moving over Milla more carefully.

She started to laugh. "A wolf. How wonderful!"

Klaus smiled and decided he'd better step in before they started trading compliments and email addresses. Milla made friends wherever she went.

"Neyla, it appears that I have picked up a strong locator spell that is still active. I have a feeling it might have come from my visit there. Can you trace it for me before we remove it?"

Neyla grew serious again. "Yes, Sir. I'll be glad to."

She leaned close to the mirror and the entire imaged flashed a vibrant green for a moment.

"I have what I need. I will reach out to you in a day or so with your answer."

Neyla looked at Milla, her smile wide again as she said, "It was very nice to meet you."

Milla grinned back. "You too, Neyla. And thank you."

Neyla nodded and the image went dark.

Milla turned to Klaus in the dark and stepped close, her arms coming around him.

"She was your reliable source." He nodded, his eyes closed at the memory of his fear that he would lose her.

The light still off, he watched her remove her clothes and she slide again on the bathroom vanity. She pulled him close with her hands. When he was in the circle of her arms, she ran those electric hands of hers over him.

"I love you." She told him. He understood better the depth of those words coming from her now than he had before. It made his chest expand on a deep breath.

"I love you, too." He whispered back. She kissed him. It was urgent and sweet. Drawing him closer, she turned her head in the dark and urged him to her throat.

"Do that again." The husky whisper from her made him go still.

"Bite you?" He was confused.

She nodded.

"I am not sure that is a good idea." He hedged, feeling uncertain about where this was going.

"I liked it." She pressed her lips to his shoulder again and that hot tongue ran over his skin making him shiver. "Please."

Klaus was thunderstruck. Blood and sex were closely aligned in his mind and had always been. With her, he'd kept those urges to himself, knowing she would have no experience with that. He'd not wanted to frighten her or drive her away. The opposite had happened. She wanted this too.

He moved quickly and sank his teeth into her smooth skin. She sighed against him.

Her lips moved over his shoulder again.

"Is it always like this for someone you bite?"

He spoke against her throat. "Unless I intend it to hurt them."

"No wonder women chase you down in the street." Milla breathed the words out on a husky groan.

He grinned. "I always thought it was my sparkling personality. I am shattered."

"No. You can be like a grumpy old man. It's definitely this." She shook her head just a bit, her hands moving over his back as she spoke.

Klaus chuckled and drew lightly from the marks he'd made. Milla came closer still and moved slowly against him.

"But I've always had a soft spot for grumpy old men." She whispered, her voice thick with teasing.

He could feel her smile against his skin. Only she could compare him to an old man and make him glad she thought so. Klaus tipped his head back and laughed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two and a half months after Elena asked Elijah to use the blood exchange, she found a large gold box lying on the bed when she emerged from a long hot bath. She opened the card and it said: Wear this and trust me. The gardens. Eight PM. Elijah had signed it. Inside she found a black lace backless evening dress with a scooping neckline, ornate sleeves and a split on one side nearly to the thigh.

Since their blood exchange a quiet joyful glow had been infused into their marriage. She would catch him sometimes now sitting in his study, or standing at a window with a thoughtful smile on his face.

It had been a shock to her that he'd believed she was pulling away and wanted out. If anything, it was just the opposite. So she'd pushed him, knowing he needed the insight the blood exchange would offer. The silences between them were gone and some of Elena's fears had resolved in the process. She still didn't leave home, but she wasn't quite so bound that going outside made her heart pound like it had before. So she felt that she was making progress.

She smiled at her reflection in the mirror as she held the dress up. He really did have the best taste. She resolved to do what he asked and trust him. A glance at the clock told her she had half an hour to get ready.

Elena ran a brush through her hair and decided to leave it down. He liked it best that way. Some diamond drop earrings, a little bit of makeup and some black heels topped off the look. Standing in the mirror, she decided she looked like a new person and felt that way too. She hadn't dressed up in what felt like ages.

Exactly on time, Elena stepped out the back door into the gardens. White lights were strung through the bushes and foliage. Small candles lit a path for her to follow.

She found him standing in a small clearing on a collapsible dancefloor. The entire space was lit up with the same lights and candles she'd found before. Elijah was wearing a tuxedo and a smile. She watched him pull something from a pocket and slow, sweet music echoed through the stillness.

He held out a hand.

"Hello beautiful. Will you dance with me?" He asked her with a smile.

Elena beamed up at him as she stepped into his arms. Her eyes had filled with tears.

He paused, his eyes crinkled at the edges. "You're not supposed to cry, darling. I had hoped to please you."

She let out a gasping laugh. "You know I cry when I'm happy, too."

He smiled and nodded, leading her slowly into a swaying dance. They glided together with the music, two people so well attuned that they moved as one. The rhythm of the music changed, moving into a new song and they automatically adjusted.

Elena had always loved to go dancing. It made her throat hurt to realize how long it had been.

"I'm sorry we haven't been able to go out and do this for so long." She told him softly.

"This is perfect." Elijah answered and she could hear his smile in his voice.

They still didn't talk about Elena's fears and how they restricted them both.

"It won't always be this way. I promise." Her voice caught as she said it.

He spun her around and stepped close behind her, wrapping his arms around her as they kept moving.

"I already know that. You are not the first of us to go through something like this. It's happened much earlier for you, but this is just part of facing eternity, little one." His deep voice was a whisper near her ear.

"You went through this?" She asked, wonder in her words.

He nodded. "I did. It was painful and terrible. I faced it alone. But you are not alone. When you're ready, I will be right here."

Elena stopped in her tracks and a hand came up to cover her face. Her eyes had filled.

"I wonder what I ever did to deserve you." She said as she turned in his arms, holding him close.

"Something terrible, I'm sure." He whispered again.

Elena bubbled up with a laugh she couldn't stop.

Elijah had believed her withdrawal was from him. Now that he understood her better, he recognized what she was going through, though it was happening much earlier than it had for him. Eternity could have a heavy hand, paralyzing those who faced it with fear over what could feel like constant change with the passage of time. He knew Elena would find her way through this and be at peace again.

When she was ready to talk, he would be more than happy to listen and help any way he could. Until then, he would love her through it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Milla and Klaus spent the night wrapped up together in the bed, safely wrapped up in peace.

Klaus opened his eyes with the morning sunlight streaming through the window to find Milla watching him. She was leaned up with an elbow propped on her pillow.

She came close and pressed a kiss to his cheek, but she didn't smile and he could see her eyes were troubled.

"You are thinking very hard to have not had your coffee yet." He said quietly.

She was wearing the t-shirt he'd given her. She sat up in the bed, moving toward the foot and facing away from him. Her shoulders were bowed.

"There are still some things that we haven't cleared up." She told him, her tone thoughtful.

"Such as?" He moved to sit beside her at the foot of the bed, careful not to touch her because it seemed she wouldn't want him to. When she spoke, he understood why.

"Why did you never tell me about your sister?" She kept her eyes down.

Klaus thought for a long moment, looking for the best way to be completely honest.

"My relationship with Rebekah is complicated. She completely lacks her humanity. She is sweet and loving. But then she is violent and cruel. She can disappear for a century or more at a time. I should have told you. But it felt like I would be borrowing trouble." Milla turned and watched him as he spoke.

"Because she _is_ trouble. But she is also the same little girl that stood when my father was particularly cruel and took the blows in my stead. It infuriated him so much he stalked away. While I cleaned the blood off of her face she told me it was worth it. She was thirteen." He spoke with a matter of fact tone, intending only to state the facts.

Milla moved close and wrapped both arms around him.

He whispered. "I will tell you whatever you want to know. In the interest of full disclosure, I had four brothers and two sisters. The others are gone now. Only Elijah and Rebekah remain."

Milla laid her head on his shoulder. "The other part of this is that Rebekah said some things. She said that you never touched female Weres. You hated them. It made me think that everything had been a game, or a novelty to you. That it was all a lie."

The words were laden with pain. He froze, understanding what she'd said about trust the night before.

"The person I was before said those things as a defense. I avoided Weres because I knew that if the whole truth of what I was ever came to light I was the one who would be hated and rejected. A hybrid would be universally despised and that truth would spread like wildfire. As it stands, only my family and a very few know that secret." He drew her closer as he went on.

"But you…." He paused and smiled to himself. "I say that a lot. "But you"... But you broke through my defenses without even trying. And I expected rejection from you too. Your simple acceptance of all I am was the last straw that brought my humanity roaring back, if you remember."

Klaus swallowed hard as he relived the moment of panic he'd felt that day on Elijah's driveway. He had shown Milla that he was the red eyed Were she had seen during her wreck. When she started voicing questions he'd been nearly paralyzed with uncertainty. She turned then and explained that she had recently been shunned by her pack because she was different and that what he was didn't matter to her.

Fate had paired them skillfully. One who lived for centuries haunted by a fear of being ostracized already in love with another who had lived it.

"With you walking away, it seemed like the only explanation that made sense. I thought you had changed your mind, or grown bored after playing the game so long." Pain echoed in her words again.

"Leaving was the last thing I actually wanted." He whispered, his chin propped against her. "I was thinking of your safety and that I carried too much risk with me."

She turned her amber gaze on him. "I can take bullets, massive blood loss, and even poisonous sisters. But you leaving nearly killed me."

Klaus was caught in that gaze and couldn't look away if he wanted to. He could see for himself the bright shimmer of pain in her eyes.

"You already know it nearly killed me too. Complete desolation brought me to that place. I underestimated you, us. I can only hope you can forgive me. Trust me again."

She stood and folded him into her arms. He rested his ear on her chest, listening to the quiet rhythm of her heart.

"I forgive you. We'll work out the rest. We'll have to because you carry my heart around with you." He could hear her words echoing through her chest.

"I did not understand that. I will be more careful with such precious cargo." He assured her gently, his hands moving over her waist and down to her hips.

The sharp angles of her hip bones made him hesitate and he decided to ask what he hadn't before. "Why are you so thin, Milla?"

"Complete desolation, as you put it. You aren't the only one who couldn't eat." Milla answered him.

His breath drew in sharply on a gasp as he pulled her into his lap. He said, "I am sorry."

"Me too. I should have made you understand better what you meant to me." She put a hand on either side of his face and leveled her eyes at him.

"You understand now, don't you? I told you we only do this once. _You_ are my once. There won't ever be another for me." He watched her eyes well when she said it and his own burned. Those were words he'd never expected to hear from her.

"I spent centuries hoping to find what I have with you." He whispered back.

Klaus heard the familiar jangle in his right ear.

"That will be Neyla. She must have my answer." Milla stood with him and they both went to the bathroom, closed the door and switched off the light.

The mirror flickered and Neyla's image appeared. Her lips were a tight line and her eyes hard.

"Sir. I found your source. He is a local witch doctor. A sorcerer. Too powerful for me to confront on your behalf. But I assume you have removed the spell now and any danger?" Her forehead was lined with worry and her dark eyes narrowed.

"Yes. After we spoke with you." But Klaus needed more answers than Neyla had been able to provide.

He turned to Milla, who was sitting in the shadows of the bathroom.

"How would you feel about a visit to Africa?" He'd already learned that being without her was always a mistake. One he wasn't likely to make again any time soon.

Milla stepped up and nodded.

She turned and faced Neyla. "I guess we will get to meet face to face sooner than I thought."

Neyla smiled again, clasping her hands together under her chin with excitement as she said, "That would be wonderful!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Klaus sat on a long, soft couch running his hand slowly over Milla's golden hair and smiling fondly as he watched her. She was asleep, her head resting on his lap. The first few hours of the flight had been just what Klaus had felt he'd missed when he'd taken this trip alone a few months ago. She was talkative and excited, watching the sunset out the window of the chartered plane and marveling over the opulence of the private plane's interior. Eventually the need for rest caught up with her and she'd wound down slowly like one of the clocks Elijah tinkered with years ago.

The first time he saw her was a photograph. It was a frozen image of her turning her smile on someone. Elijah had captured the moment and saved it. Klaus had thumbed through Elijah's phone and been caught off guard by it. Her head was thrown back, like she'd just finished a boisterous laugh, her eyes slanted with teasing affection. Her full pink lips were stretched to a broad smile. The photo seemed, to him, to have caught the sliver of time after a riot of laughter and before she stepped into a loving embrace.

It was joyful and heartfelt, that photo. And he'd been enchanted. So much so that his thoughts had returned to it repeatedly until he came back and sought her out, to see that smile with his own eyes. In that quest, he'd been caught in her spell, hoping desperately for one of those smiles to be turned on him.

In their time together, he'd found he would do just about anything for that smile, really. She lit up like a sunrise with her golden eyes and her wide pink smile. There would never be enough of them, not for him.

Hours later they met in Neyla's small kitchen table with the sound of children playing in the back yard as they talked quietly. Klaus could only smile watching the two of them embrace like old friends. He would never understand how Milla's pack had rejected her so completely. It seemed to him that everyone who met her loved her nearly as much as he did.

"His name is Naaman. He's been around for at least a generation. He calls himself a witch doctor, but he deals in much darker magic than most who wear that title use. The more money the customer has, the darker the result. Curses, murder, mayhem, whole families wiped away in an isolated plague or ripped apart by an unseen attacker in the night. These, at least, are the stories that have circulated about him." Neyla's voice became progressively deeper as she spoke, her distaste for the subject clear.

"Where can I find him?" Klaus asked, leaning back in the small chair from the table.

"He has a home on the westward side of a small island an hour's boat ride from here. There's a small cove and his house is on the beach, but it's surrounded by a dormant volcano and jungles. It's said that he guards the cove itself, knowing every craft that comes in and out. That would eliminate the element of surprise. But going up the eastern side, over the old volcano would allow a better entrance, I would think."

"How far are we talking about trekking through jungles?" Milla asked.

"About five miles. The island is so small it doesn't even appear on maps. We'll have to get a local boat to take us there."

Klaus held up a hand at that. "There is no reason anyone needs to go with me."

He'd had in mind that Milla would stay with Neyla for a few hours until he got some answers to his questions from this Naaman. But Milla and Neyla were both shaking their heads at him in unison.

Milla argued, "There's no reason you should go alone. You have no idea what you might be walking into."

He reached across the table and laid his hand over hers. "All the more reason for you not to be at risk." He told her firmly.

But Milla turned her hand over and linked her fingers with his. "You said yourself that we're better together than apart."

Klaus smiled at her crooked grin. She was always using his words against him. It was hard to argue with himself.

Conceding defeat, he raised a hand in surrender. "Fine. But we will take every precaution."

Neyla piped up at that. "And I know the way to the island, so I'll be coming too."

They found a small dock on the eastern side of the island.

Milla followed Neyla onto the shore and stood on the dock waiting for Klaus. He was leaned down talking to the captain and looking very intent. After a minute, he went to speak with the first mate and wore the same intense expression. He met her on the dock and took her hand as he caught up with her.

"What was that with the crew?" Milla asked as they reached the sand of the beach.

He looked down at her and smiled patiently. "I was making sure they will not leave us here. The last thing I want to do is get us stuck here with no way off."

"So you paid them?"

"No. I compelled them. They will not leave until all three of us are on the boat or I tell them otherwise."

Milla knew a little about compulsion. She'd seen Damon do it a time or two. Powerful, but mostly harmless. She'd never considered it completely though, not until now. Those men would stay there as long as it took now, even if their lives were in danger, which was entirely possible.

Milla came to a stop, still holding Klaus' hand.

"You haven't ever…." She hesitated and swallowed hard. "used that on me, have you?"

Klaus turned and his face went blank for a moment before he spoke carefully.

"That question tells me that, even with all of the vampires you have known for so long, you have never questioned whether you could trust…until now….with me." Denim blue eyes met hers and even without connecting to him empathically, she could see she had hurt him.

He slid the back of a finger against her cheek. "I thought you were going to work on trusting me again." His words were tight, his eyes flickering with pain.

"I am. I'm trying. But I need an answer. Please."

He pulled his hand away and took a step back as he spoke. "Compulsion does not work on wolves or witches, Milla. So, no, I have never tried that on you. I had hoped you would know me better than that. I would never interfere with your mind or your will. Never."

Klaus turned and strode in Neyla's direction without another word.

Milla bit back the apology that rang in her head. He was hurt and he had every right to be. She couldn't even grasp what had made her so afraid suddenly. And there they were and with an audience. She blew a sigh as she caught up with him and Neyla standing on the sand.

He turned and his eyes raked her before he spoke. "I am going to scout ahead, make sure it is safe before the two of you head into the jungle. So, wait here, give me five minutes."

Milla followed him, stopping him from stepping into the trees. "Wait." She took his arm and he turned slowly back to face her.

"You didn't deserve that. I don't even know where it came from." She admitted, stepping close, but still only touching his arm.

His shoulders went back and the tension drained from him as he looked past her shoulder for a moment before he met her eyes.

"I only used compulsion because I overheard them planning to abandon us here." Klaus slid a hand into her hair, cupping her neck as he went on. "I have not used that skill in ages. I am not the villain here, love. Not anymore."

She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his jawline. "I know that. I love you. I'm sorry."

He pressed his lips to her forehead as his eyes drifted closed. "I forgive you. And I love you, too."

He turned then to disappear silently into the thick tree line.

Milla turned to join Neyla who had taken a seat on a large boulder.

"He's different with you." Neyla said, her eyes on the trees where Klaus disappeared. "He has been around since before I was born. I remember him as always very cold. Very formal. Sometimes cruel."

Milla turned and studied Neyla's profile. "I love him."

Neyla smiled without turning. "I saw how much he loved you when he was here before. I was concerned and he allowed me to read him."

Milla reached out a hand and Neyla finally looked at her with wide eyes.

"It's okay. Go ahead." Milla told her. She could see that Neyla was evidently still concerned about him. "I don't have anything to hide."

Neyla took Milla's hand in both of hers and closed her eyes.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and they went wide as she studied Milla. A smile spread across her face and unshed tears made her eyes sparkle.

"A love match." Neyla said simply. "But you are afraid where he is not."

Milla smiled a little sadly. "Commitment phobia."

Neyla let her go and wiped a hand over her eyes. "Fear can make us hurt the people we love most. You have not asked for advice, but I will give it anyway. Face it and it loses power."

Milla turned to watch the tree line again and nodded wondering how exactly to do that.

They waited on the beach while time ticked away. Klaus had said he wanted to scout ahead and to give him five minutes. When thirty minutes had passed and he'd not returned, Milla was getting seriously worried. Neyla shifted restlessly from one foot to another while Milla paced.

"Okay, that's it. I can't wait anymore." Milla told Neyla and the two of them stepped into the trees where Klaus had disappeared.

As they moved through the foliage quietly, Milla's eyes were cast far ahead, searching for any sign of Klaus. Every step made her a little more worried for him.

They were headed west, following the afternoon sun, the only sounds in the forest being their feet as they crunched leaves or grasses.

Into the silence a high pitched scream echoed.

"My eyes! Oh god, my eyes!" It was Neyla, walking ten paces behind Milla. Milla spun to find Neyla bent at the waist with both hands over her eyes and screaming her heart out.

She reached the girl, a hand on her shoulder.

"What's happened? What's wrong?" Milla asked, trying to calm her.

The tall young woman straightened and blinked in Milla's direction. Where there had been dark brown irises, there was nothing now. Her eyes were completely white…and blind. Tears streamed down dark cheeks.

"Who are you?" Neyla sobbed at her. "Why can't I see?"

"But Neyla, I came here with you…" Milla's heart was racing. How could Neyla not know her so suddenly? They had only met a few days ago, but still.

"I don't know you." Neyla covered her eyes with both hands.

Milla swallowed hard and thought harder. Her first priority was to calm her friend.

"Okay. You don't know me, but I will help you. I won't let anything hurt you." Milla spoke softly and gently to the woman, wrapping arms around her broad shoulders.

"I don't know what's happened. But I can tell you that I am here, I care." Milla whispered as Neyla's shoulders shook with silent sobs.

"Where did the man go?" Neyla asked as she calmed. "He was here and he disappeared. I call him Sir."

"You mean Klaus. Yes. He was here. He disappeared into the trees. You remember him?" Neyla nodded against her shoulder.

So Neyla remembered Klaus, remembered coming here with him, but didn't remember Milla at all. _What the hell is going on? _Milla thought, her mind racing.

Slowly and gently Milla led Neyla to a spot next to a tree and eased her to sitting. They stopped several times while Neyla had to calm herself. Her breathing would become fast and harsh. She was clearly terrified.

After they had sat together, Milla spoke quietly hoping to help her friend and asking what happened.

Tears flowed again as Neyla answered her. "I remember seeing trees and grass. I was looking for the man. I work for him. At some point I blinked and everything went black." A sob rose and Neyla gasped for a moment. "My grandmother went blind before she died of cancer in her brain. It was horrible to watch and I've always been terrified of that." She took a deep breath. "Now here I am. A blind, helpless witch. Just like she was."

Milla took her hand gently. "Not helpless, Neyla."

It was then that Milla realized her own hands were shaking.

When her pack shunned her, it was more than just turning her away. They wiped her from their histories, blotting out her name, her image. No one would ever speak her name again and each vowed never to speak or think of her again. She was forgotten, their history wiped clean of her existence.

To be lost at that depth by people she loved had always terrified her. People, relationships were the things she valued most in the world. For all the time and joy with people she loved to be lost in forgetfulness filled her with horror.

Neyla's deepest fear was going blind. And Milla's was to be forgotten by the people she cared about. A protective spell over the land. It was the only thing that made sense. It appeared to manifest their deepest fears.

A small rustle of sound from the trees moved in their direction. Automatically Milla tipped her head up and caught the familiar scent moving in their direction. After a moment he appeared and stepped from the trees. Her first glimpse of him was like looking at a different person.

Evidently Klaus' worst fear was losing his humanity.

Even the way he moved had changed. There was a loose swagger to his step that hadn't been there before and his full lips twisted upward to a smile that closely resembled a snarl. His denim blue eyes were icy. He was still as graceful as he'd always been, but now it looked more like the stalk of a jungle cat than the dancer he'd always reminded her of.

_That's it,_ Milla realized. _He's stalking us._

It had been three days since she'd found him in the cabin and he'd not fed in all that time. It made sense that he would have an appetite again.

He paused a few steps away, his eyes calculating as he studied her and then Neyla. Milla figured if her theory was right that he wouldn't know her. But he should know Neyla, at least. He tipped his head back and drew in their scents.

"Hmmmm….choices." He murmured to himself.

"Choosing your next meal, Klaus?" She asked him. His eyes came up swiftly to hers.

"You know me?" He moved to lean against a nearby tree, his arms loosely crossed over his chest.

"Enough to know I'll be your best option." Milla swallowed hard. This was bound to be worse than the last time, but she didn't see a way out.

"So you are volunteering? A groupie then?" His smile was slow and broad, but still managed to seem a breath away from being threatening.

Milla knew that groupies were men and women, usually human, drawn into the vampire world. They were always searching for an opportunity to draw attention. With blood, sex or service. They followed vampires around if they were given half a chance, like some people followed celebrities or musical bands. Most of them hoped to become vampires themselves someday. But it rarely happened. They were usually used up and discarded. Even that didn't stop others from stepping up to take their place.

"We prefer the term 'minion' nowadays. But yes. Exactly." Milla had to keep him away from Neyla. Milla could survive his feeding. Fighting him off of either of them wasn't an option because it would never work. She'd end up getting herself and Neyla killed. The best option she could see would be to appease him, if possible, until they could find their way through this nightmarish spell.

"But you are a wolf. Usually not on my menu." The corner of his nose lifted in a snurl of contempt.

With only that he wounded her without ever striking a blow.

Heartsick, Milla patted Neyla's hand and left her sitting on the log. She stood and took a cautious step toward him.

"She works for you. That makes her valuable. She's also been injured. Lost her eyesight. Hardly worthy prey, don't you think?"

"You know quite a lot for a 'minion'." Frigid blue eyes narrowed.

"Your reputation proceeds you. Surely that's not a surprise." She told him with the sweetest smile she could muster.

His gaze lingered over her, like she was a horse he was thinking of purchasing. Irritation made her wonder if he'd be checking her teeth.

"Wolf or not, you _are_ lovely." He stood from where he'd been leaning against the tree and Milla automatically braced.

"Young Neyla is your friend?" He asked her as he moved progressively in her direction, stalking again. "One you would give your life for? Because she would be my first choice."

Deciding she'd have to dangle herself like a carrot to draw him in, Milla nodded as she said, "Have a taste, if you want. Decide then. I won't fight you or try to run away."

The wind blasted around her and she braced. Blinking hard, she found herself still standing where she was and alone when the wind died down. A single line of blood ran down her arm. She hadn't felt a thing, but she was bleeding from a small, deep cut at her left shoulder. She didn't even understand what he might've used to make the small incision.

He was against the tree again, licking her blood from a finger thoughtfully.

"Cinnamon, right?" She asked casually, already knowing that was a favorite of his.

"Yes." Those hard, but still beautiful, eyes met hers.

In that moment Milla connected with him. He felt only mild interest, nothing else. _He_ was gone. The person she loved with all of the passion, kindness and depth…was absent. It made her chest hurt and her eyes burn with the pressure of unshed tears.

"Your wound has already sealed." He pointed out, one brow up.

The bleeding had stopped and it was drying now.

"I'm a fast healer." She shrugged, swallowing hard again to cover her grief. The man she loved was gone and only this hard shell remained. Not only that, but he didn't know her. All the time, all the love between them was gone. But it felt like letting him see would only make things worse.

He moved toward her again, the unconscious strut accenting his stride. He was mesmerizing even now. Klaus made hunting look like an art form and she couldn't help but admire him. Considering she was the prey, that was saying something.

"I know you can decide if it should hurt. I'd appreciate it if you would take care of that." She tilted her head and opened her arms in invitation.

He stepped up and drew in her scent again, his nose near her hair.

"You feel familiar." He whispered with his lips near her throat.

She wanted to groan with frustration. Milla wanted this over like a shot at the doctor's office when she was a kid.

"Just do it." She whispered back huskily, her arms closing around him.

He sank his teeth in and did make sure it didn't hurt, thankfully. He pulled against the punctures and after a moment Milla was slammed hard against the ground. He was holding her down by her shoulders, feeding roughly.

It didn't matter that he was rough with her, or that he was infinitely stronger than she was. She should be terrified. But her blood boiled under her skin just the same. She let out a groan without meaning to, her arms tightening around him. Her legs came up automatically.

He paused and pulled away to look down at her. He smiled and his sharp teeth were red with her blood when he spoke.

"You _want_ me." He sounded inordinately pleased.

She could only nod, her voice lost in the heat.

"A little more privacy and I might have taken care of that for you." The words were pitched low and seductive near her ear. She shivered and his smile grew wider.

He chuckled to himself as he went back to feeding.

Milla could feel herself weakening, but he kept going. Her hands fell to her sides and her legs followed shortly thereafter. Her breaths became sharp and shallow. A glance at her hand found it pale and tinged blue.

Finally he pulled away and sat beside her on the jungle floor. He was watching her with interest, his head tilted to one side. No regret, no shame, just interest.

She laid there for a few minutes drawing in deep breaths and willing herself to heal faster. The helpless feeling that came over her as he watched coldly was hard to bear. After a few minutes her breathing became easier and she sat up. She looked at her hand and it was pink again.

"Remarkable. I expected to watch you die." His eyes were wide.

"Sorry to disappoint. But not today."

"How is it you know so much about us? About me?" The suspicion was back in his eyes again.

Milla shrugged, deciding telling him a little wouldn't matter. "I have known your brother for more than ten years."

"You belong to Elijah? He does not usually…." Klaus' stood quickly and took three steps back from her in alarm.

Milla laughed a little and shook her head. "No. It's not like that. He is family to me."

She couldn't help but wonder if his concern was at the thought of touching her if she'd been with his brother, or earnest caution about treading on Elijah's property.

"Family, you say?" Klaus took two steps toward her again, his eyes moving over her now with real interest. His head was cocked slightly to one side.

Milla only nodded and shrugged, hoping silently that he wouldn't push for more answers in that area. Her throat closed at the thought that right now Elijah probably wouldn't even remember her if the power of this spell branched out beyond this little island. If Klaus decided to call him to confirm, that might not end well for her, at least not right now.

"So he is where you have learned about my reputation, as you put it?" His lips had become a hard line.

Milla nodded again, afraid to say too much. She ran a hand over her forehead realizing she was still a little dizzy from the blood loss.

"Well, little wolf, I have not spoken to my brother in a little more than twenty years. So I cannot imagine he was particularly complimentary."

She smiled at the name he'd given her. He came to crouch beside her and studied her smile closely, questions in his eyes.

Understanding the way he thought, even now, she said, "Sorry. The nickname you gave me is why I smiled. No one's ever called me that before." Considering the size of her wolf, no one would have dared.

"As for what Elijah might have said, it couldn't have been so bad, or I wouldn't be here, right?" She tried then to stand and floundered, the dizziness rising up again. Klaus stood and reached out a hand to help her up.

"Well then I should send him a thank you card. He has sent me a gift that can keep giving." He said it as he still held her hand.

The cold blue gaze raked her slowly and appreciatively. She could see he had more in mind than a snack and she knew herself well enough to know she wouldn't be able to say no to him. Her love ran too deep for that.

Klaus sounded so calculating that Milla's heart shuddered in her chest. Damon's warning from more than a year ago about Klaus rang in her head. _Violent, cruel and smooth. A consummate manipulator._ Damon wasn't wrong. It was all right there.

All of this and he'd not even asked her name. _Because he didn't care._ She was willing sex and a replenishing food supply. Even in his current state, he was willing to overlook the fact that she was a wolf for all of that.

_Klaus, with all his emotion, all his pain, watched in agony while the monster who wore his face tore away at Milla. He was tucked away in a tight corner of his own mind, watching through his own eyes while the emotionless terror he had once been tore away at his love…with sharp teeth and sharper words. He had become a helpless passenger behind an impenetrable wall, seeing Milla's pain glittering back at him._

_He struck the barrier that contained him over and over with all of his considerable strength. But the effort gained him no ground at all. A roar of agonized fury tore from him when he felt his teeth sink into her and he slammed her to the ground. _

_When he saw her begin to turn blue he turned away, unable to look any more. Leaned against the invisible barrier, he slid slowly to the ground to cover his face with both hands. _

_This had always been his deepest terror. Milla loved him and forgave who he had been with the lovingkindness that defined her. But it all hinged on the fact that she'd never seen it, seen him, for herself. If she spent even a moment with who he had once been, with a total lack of humanity, he'd lose her the same way he lost everyone. Even his family ultimately walked away from the monster he had been._

_The horror he was carried death and hell with him without a flicker of remorse. And Klaus approached every day careful to never let that part of him see the light of day again. But those efforts had proven futile. Somehow, some way, the monster inside him had emerged again to take control. _

_Now that she knew him, all of him, she would walk away too. She would finally see that this loathsome creature lurked in the shadows of his heart ready to step out whenever opportunity presented itself. _

_The deed was done. An eternity alone stretched out before him while silent tears coursed down his cheeks._

_After all, who could love a monster? _


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Milla got her bearings and returned to Neyla who still seemed frozen with sightless terror.

She put a hand over Neyla's and the young woman turned in her direction. Neyla put her other hand over Milla's.

"Thank you." Neyla whispered.

"It's okay." Milla whispered back.

"You are very brave." Neyla was shaking her head slowly.

"I told you I would protect you. I meant it. We just all have to get through this alive."

Klaus spoke from a distance away. "I have to admit I do not remember how I got here or why."

Evidently in the process of wiping Milla from his memory everything that involved her in the past had been erased too. He would probably have huge holes in his recall, especially the part about regaining his humanity, about the time they had spent together. Because he had made this trip with her, even that was gone.

Milla guessed it had to be powerful magic that could wipe away huge blocks of time.

Neyla spoke up, filling in what she could remember. "We were here after a witch doctor, Sir. He attached a spell to you, intending harm and I was showing you where to find his home because you wanted information from him. We have walked into a protective spell. It seems to cause memory loss and blindness."

"Then we should get moving." Klaus came toward them with hands out to help them both up off the log. Milla ignored him and stood, helping Neyla to stand too. He lowered his hands slowly as he watched them, blue eyes narrowed again.

"We're on an island." Milla filled in. "Neyla said before that this guy's home is on the beach that sits on the western side of this dormant volcano we're standing on."

Neyla's all white eyes seemed to flounder around her as she tried to get her bearings. Milla extended an arm and guided Neyla's hand to her elbow.

"I can be your eyes as we go." Milla told her quietly. "But you can do this, Neyla. You will be okay. We will fix this."

"We're going to be slow moving. Considering there may be other traps, sending you ahead might be a mistake." Milla directed her comment to Klaus.

One of Klaus' brows went up.

"Your concern is touching." He placed a hand over his heart, his eyes mocking her.

Milla tore her eyes from him and focused on Neyla, telling her softly if there was something to step over or if the ground was uneven. Neyla still seemed uncertain, but was getting the hang of moving in darkness.

After an hour like this Milla suggested they let Neyla rest. She found another place for her to sit safely at the base of a tree.

Milla branched out around them cautiously, scoping out the area. There was a gust of wind and Klaus appeared, leaning on a tree again.

He stepped slowly forward and leaned down to meet her gaze.

"I cannot compel you. How do you suggest I convince you to come with me when this task is accomplished?"

"I'll come." Her answer was terse as she cast her eyes first to the ground and then the tree behind him. She wanted to look anywhere but into his eyes and find nothing looking back at her.

"I think your claim to be a groupie, or a minion, or whatever…" He shrugged, his eyes narrowed on her. "cannot possibly be true. If that were so, you would be hanging on my every word. As it stands, it is clear you do not even _like_ me."

His head had tipped to one side, his eyes solemn. Full, smooth lips compressed to a frown as he went on. "So, why would you agree to come with me? In company you would prefer to avoid?"

Milla drew a deep breath, her heart aching. She had no choice in the matter. Not really. She had already lost everything.

"You're wrong." Milla admitted. He couldn't be more wrong, but she could see how he'd think that she disliked him. She found it hard to look at him, even. "But what you're really asking is what it is that I want from you."

He nodded once, watching her closely.

Milla swallowed hard before she answered. "Just your company. No costs, deals or negotiations."

Klaus' eyes widened with confusion like she'd just started speaking Swahili and he couldn't translate.

"There is always a price." He countered, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head.

Milla took a step closer. "Not with me there's not."

"Why would it matter so much to you that I go with you?" She asked when he didn't respond.

He turned and paced a distance away before turning and coming back again. She could see he was using the time to formulate an answer.

"Because I find you interesting." He said finally.

"High praise coming from you." She muttered under her breath as she stared at the ground. _She was a novelty to him. Of course._

He stepped closer and hooked a finger under her chin and tipping it up to make her look at him.

"That. Exactly that. You speak like you know me." His blue eyes swept her face.

"I keep my word. I said I'll come with you. And I will. If that's what you want." Milla told him finally, purposely deflecting his curiosity.

"Fair enough." He said as he nodded, but those blue eyes continued to search her face.

Milla was seeing she could add irritable, suspicious and impatient to the list of qualities Damon had given her about Klaus without his humanity. He was like the old negative of a photograph of the person she loved.

Milla turned back and left him standing to rejoin Neyla so that they could get moving again. After half an hour or so of picking a path through the thick jungle they reached what appeared to be a clearing. The ground was smooth and covered with tall thick grass, but the trees and foliage had been cleared away. Milla stepped out of the trees with a sigh, Neyla slightly behind her, being led by a hand at Milla's elbow.

The air filled with a sharp humming sound all around them. Milla's eyes turned to the sky to see it darken with a hail of arrows. Hundreds of arrows had been released and were headed right for them. She moved automatically to stand in front of Neyla, protecting her as best she could with her body because it was all she had.

A hard blast of wind moved past them. Without understanding why, Milla watched the arrows begin to vanish before they reached them. Klaus appeared as the arrows cleared, his hands full and dropped them at his feet. Another thrum of sound rang out and a second wave of attack came. Milla searched for where they were coming from, who their attackers were, but there was no one. They were still alone, but the arrows kept coming.

Klaus disappeared again and the arrows with him, handfuls at a time. He paused as the arrows were cleared away and they all froze, waiting to see if it would happen again.

Klaus let out a sigh of relief when nothing happened after a few moments. He turned to drop the rest of the arrows he'd stopped. Milla guessed there was two hundred of them on the ground now. None had got past him.

Quietly and slowly Milla urged Neyla to sit where she was standing.

She turned and took a relieved step toward Klaus.

The twang of arrows taking to the air came again and Milla watched Klaus searching the clearing with his eyes. He saw something, his eyes wide and in a flash he was standing in front of her, holding her shoulders.

Two sick wet thumps sounded and he looked down as blood spread across the front of his shirt.

Two arrows protruded from his chest angled so that they crossed each other behind his breast bone. The sharp ends were sticking out. He'd stepped in front of her to stop both arrows that were coming from opposite directions. Aimed at her chest.

Wooden arrows. Now through Klaus' heart. _Like a stake._

"No!" Milla yelled, her hands coming to him automatically. They shook against his arms.

He grimaced down at his chest, a hand coming up to the wounds. Klaus' skin at his face, neck and hands turned a strange shade of grey as he stood there looking down.

"Oh, god! Please!" Milla whispered brokenly. She was staring at the sharp arrow tips protruding from his chest and paralyzed with horror.

Klaus blinked before understanding dawned. She watched the grey tinge in his face and hands fade away as quickly as it appeared.

He reached down and snapped the sharp end from an arrow with two fingers and offered it to her.

"I am fine." He smiled with warmth at her reaction and snapped the other tip off.

"But that's wood. Through your heart." Milla still felt like she might hyperventilate or be sick, or both.

Klaus smiled wider, his expression indulgent. "It will take more than that, love."

He turned and looked around. "Those must have been setup on a delay, adjusting aim to whoever was left to step first when the other attacks failed."

But Milla was now staring at the long arrows still sticking out of his back.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Her voice was strangled, forced out around the lump in her throat.

He shook his head, stretching to look over his shoulder at himself as he said, "No, but pull those out for me, will you? I will not be able to reach them."

Milla's hands shook. He didn't recognize her, but he had just taken on injury for her. She steadied herself and pulled the first arrow out.

"Why would you do that?" Milla asked him quietly because she couldn't hold it in anymore.

He turned and met her eyes.

"Protect us? Protect me?" She explained.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." He said simply, but there was a flash of something in his eyes she didn't understand. She reached empathically to feel him out, gazing up at him. She found he was feeling confusion. It looked like he didn't know why he had done it either.

Milla stepped around behind him and pulled the other arrow out. She lifted the back of his shirt to search for wounds and her fingers skimmed hard muscle. He let out a low hissing breath at the contact.

"There are no wounds anymore." Milla said, pulling her hand swiftly away.

He turned quickly and was watching her again.

She swallowed hard before she said, "You probably just saved my life."

Klaus' lips twisted to a crooked smile. "I do not get to be the hero very often."

Milla took a step toward him and leaned up, pressing her lips lightly to his cheek. "Well, you were mine today. Thank you."

His eyes widened as she leaned back and he moved closer, quickly covering her mouth with his.

Milla's heart pounded hard and she leaned into it, her hand moving to the back of his neck as she sank into the kiss. He was different, but this wasn't. It was hot, sweet and felt like coming home. Her other hand strayed to his back and he groaned when she touched him.

He gasped when he broke the kiss, his eyes moving swiftly over her face. "You feel familiar. Why?" He asked.

Rattled by the kiss, Milla spoke the truth. "You don't remember, but that's okay. I do."

"You are suggesting that we know each other and I have forgotten you?" He rolled his eyes before they settled on her again and narrowed suspiciously. He took a step back from her.

Milla could only nod, her eyes on the ground again.

"Impossible." He muttered and paced away angrily before he turned and came back again, stopping a few steps away.

"Why is it impossible? Because I'm a wolf?" Milla met his eyes then, hurt and anger shifting hers to gold for a flash.

He smiled slowly and there was a flicker of who she knew shining down at her. "No. Because you are not someone I would forget, sweetheart."

"You're flirting with me? Really?" Though heart ached, her smile was warm. He had warned her about this part, too. At least it was _her_ he was turning his charm on.

"Absolutely." Klaus stepped up, carefully plucking a lock of her hair that had fallen over her eyes. He tucked it carefully behind an ear. It was an intimate gesture he'd done hundreds of times since she had known him.

"And you _like_ it." He leaned close to her ear as he whispered, his voice husky.

"Only if it's true." She murmured, echoing his tone as she reached out and straightened his collar, imitating his flirtatious intimacy.

"True? You want truth?" His question brought him a step closer, his thigh against hers again. "In the span of only a few hours I have found that you are beautiful, brave, kind and spirited. In a word, you are _fascinating_." He cocked his head to one side as he went on. "All of that and you _admitted_ you want me. I would never forget _any_ of that. I was born at night, love, not last night."

More suspicion. It was going to take convincing him, then. She couldn't see that there was any risk left. She'd already agreed to follow him. Milla closed the distance that was left between them, her body flush with his.

"We have been lovers for more than a year." She leaned up to whisper the words huskily in his ear and wove her hands under the back of his shirt as she spoke. Gently she skimmed her fingertips over the hard muscle along his back, just above his waist.

The muscles rippled under her light touch as his spine straightened involuntarily. Breath hissed out of him as his eyes drifted closed.

"You told me once that it feels like lightning under your skin when I touch you." His eyes shot open, searching her face. "How else would I know that?" She asked with a tender smile.

She rose on tiptoe and kissed him, leaning back again with his lower lip between her teeth as she nipped gently at it.

Another hiss from him filled the silence between them.

"Or how to kiss you?" She breathed when she pulled away.

Her back was slammed to the trunk of a tree and Klaus was against her. She smiled up at him. One of his hands came around to cup her bottom and the other slid against her cheekbone as he moved even closer, sinking into an urgent kiss. Milla's hands continued their gentle trek across the hard muscles of his back.

Klaus was gasping for air when he broke away. Milla echoed it.

"Explain how I would not remember, then." His forehead rested against hers, his sly eyes studying her as he drew in harsh breaths.

"Neyla told you we walked into a protective spell. My theory is that it manifests our deepest fears. Hers is blindness. Mine is to be forgotten, wiped from the minds and hearts of the people I…." She hesitated and swallowed hard before she went on. "care for."

"So you…_care_ for _me_?" He took a half step back, his eyes wide with what looked like wonder as they moved over her face. He asked the question very slowly, carefully pronouncing each word. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips, but one corner was turned down, like he was waiting for there to be a punchline.

That look made her heart turn over in her chest as she ached for him. Klaus had shared before that he was basically alone for a very long time before he knew her. He admitted he had always hated solitude. Facing a solitary eternity was a daunting task, or so he liked to say. Someone genuinely caring for him would probably feel like either a trap or salvation, depending on whether he could trust it. All of that painted a portrait of him looking hopeful and cautious at once.

Milla closed the distance and her arms wrapped around him protectively, an instinctive response to anything that might cause him pain. She rose to her tip toes to press a tender kiss to his cheek, her heart in her eyes as they met his wide searching ones.

"You offered me truth before. Now it's my turn. You don't remember me. But why would you? I am nobody. I am also completely in love with you. Humanity or no humanity. I'll stay with you as long as you'll have me." Her simple truth was a whisper between them.

Her eyes welled as she thought how dim her future had become in just a few hours. Boredom usually ended his relationships when he lacked his humanity. Milla figured it was only a matter of time.

Klaus' face was wiped clean of all expression at her words. He blinked several times before he spoke again.

"Milla?" Her name was only a whisper, but his tone was richer somehow. It struck her then that she'd never actually told him her name. Her own eyes went wide in surprise.

Neyla's voice from the trees called to her. "Yes! I remember now. Your name is Milla."

Klaus dropped to his knees in the dirt and pulled her against him. His face sank into her shirt at her waist.

"The things I said." His words were a tight husk of sound and he was shaking his head slowly. "What I did. I could hear myself, could see and could not stop it."

Milla leaned back and tipped his head up with fingers under his chin and met his eyes.

His love, shame and relief flowed up over her like a fountain. Milla's eyes filled. Somehow, just like that, Klaus was himself again.

"I thought you were gone with just that empty shell left." Milla gasped as she cried, pulling him close as she dropped to her knees with him.

"What was your worst fear?" She asked him.

"That I would lose my humanity. You would see all of me." His arms grew tighter around her as he spoke again. "Now that you have, how can you possibly love a monster?"

"That's easy. I'm a monster too."

"But…you are not…" His words were stopped by her finger against his lips as she leaned back.

"That's exactly what I am. Would you would judge me for my wolf?" She asked him quietly.

"Of course not." He denied it quickly.

"And I won't judge you, either. With or without your humanity, I love you."

Milla reached and took one of his hands in both of hers.

"There was no way I was going to give you up. I was going to work out a way to get you back." She told him, her love shining in her eyes.

"You know, I could hear how _he_ thought." Klaus told her softly. "Even with you as a stranger to him, he was intrigued. He could think of little else but how to keep you close. Protecting you was instinctive. It would only have been a matter of time before you stole what heart he had just as you did before. My little thief." His smile was tender.

The whole thing gave her a deeper understanding of the caution others had for him. It also showed her how much she loved him, that she'd been determined to remain near him, regardless of his actions. Her feelings weren't dependent on being returned.

So when she'd told him she loved him still even after he'd been cruel, the fear was neutralized and the spell broken. Milla thought hard about the fact that they both now remembered her name. Her fear of being forgotten…accepting that she was nobody had evidently disarmed that too.

Now there was Neyla's fear of going blind. How to resolve it…?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Klaus watched Milla, his eyes straying to her back time and again. The three of them moved slowly and steadily while Milla and Neyla worked together like a well-oiled machine moving across the landscape.

Neyla was still afraid, clearly traumatized without her sight, as anyone would be. But he could see a distinct difference now that Neyla remembered Milla. He considered offering to carry her, but Milla stopped him, suggesting that it might contribute to Neyla's feelings of helplessness.

Although he was quiet, his heart was in chaos. Klaus was confused by Milla's easy acceptance of his darker side. Her words ran over and over in his mind. _I love you, humanity or no humanity._

How was that possible? It was clear that she meant every word, or chances are the spell wouldn't have been broken. He believed her, but the depth of trust and love in that statement made something in his chest clench like a tight fist.

The trust ran deeper than any he could grasp. Her heart, her life and the lives of the people she loved….everything was entrusted to him in that simple statement. Because all of those things would be at risk if his humanity ever switched off again.

Without it, Klaus was a destroyer. Milla had suffered at his hands, even. So she saw clearly what he was capable of. He felt faintly nauseous just at the memory.

But she loved that part of him, too.

His mind spun at the implications and magnitude it implied. The loving look in her eyes when he surprised her at the garage weeks ago. Her gentleness when she forced him to drink from her rather than fade away as he'd intended. The stubborn flash in her eyes when she insisted his darker self choose her to feed from a few hours ago rather than Neyla who would have never survived it.

He'd asked her for trust. And Milla had given it when he deserved it least.

She compared herself to him, saying she also was a monster. She implied that her wolf qualified; making them both equally inhuman. Part of him understood the comparison, having seen others ruled by the animal within them, gone wild and destructive. But that was hardly Milla.

What had happened in this jungle was something he had feared to his very core, for her to know him….all of him. But somehow they had faced it together and were stronger for it. It left him feeling shaken and, frankly, in awe of her.

In that moment Milla came to a halt ahead of him and Neyla with her. His chest aching, he moved to stand in her path and pulled her roughly into a tight embrace.

Milla drew a startled breath before she laughed a little and closed her arms around him.

"What is this for?" Her smiling words were muffled against his chest.

"Because I cannot help myself." He muttered, his chin tucked over the crown of her head.

Milla grew still and seemed to understand him. "I really do love you." She whispered against him.

The tight fist his heart had become shuddered in his chest in answer. The depth and breadth of it overwhelmed him. How would he ever deserve a love like this? What had he, of all people, ever done that justified his finding it?

"I am beginning to understand that, little wolf. And I really do love you, too." He whispered back.

She laughed at the pet name.

"You do realize you're the only person on the planet that would have the right to call me that." She leaned up and kissed his chin with a smile.

Klaus shook his head at her with a grin. She meant that he was the only one whose wolf was larger than hers.

Milla grew still in his arms suddenly and tipped her head to the wind.

"Do you smell that?" She asked, concern darkening her eyes.

Klaus followed her example, drawing a deep breath.

Char. He smelled burnt earth.

"Wait here." He told her as he turned to move ahead of them into the brush. Klaus could hear her worry as she told him to be careful.

A hundred yards ahead the trees and brush disappeared completely. They had gone around the cap of the dormant volcano and reached the westward side. Here everything was a black, barren wasteland. No trees or anything green grew on this side of the volcano and the ground was warm to the touch.

At the edge of the charred ground was a wall of fire that burned so hot it was blue. Looking up, he couldn't see a place where it ended. It appeared to stretch endlessly into the sky. He moved along its edge and found that it formed a half circle and completely blocked all passage down the eastern slope of the mountain they stood on. The massive wall of fire was a barrier that stood between them and their destination.

Klaus could survive passing through it, but he'd be worse for the wear if he tried. Neither Neyla nor Milla would fare as well and there was no way he was leaving them in this nightmare of a jungle alone.

He returned to the ladies and described what he had found. Their journey had met its end. This was as far as they could go. As he spoke, he watched Neyla grow still and quiet. They were sitting under a large tree.

"Take me there." Neyla said as she stood up. Her eyes remained closed now most of the time, but they were open and white, moving wildly.

"To the wall?" Milla asked her.

Neyla only nodded.

He led them both to the blue wall of fire.

Neyla stood, facing the flames from a distance away as Milla asked questions, searching for a way around the barrier. He'd already considered all of her ideas and found no way around it.

"No." Neyla finally said as Milla and Klaus ran down options. "You won't have to find another way." Klaus watched her broad shoulders square as she took a step in the direction of the wall.

"Careful, Neyla." Milla warned, her husky voice sounding worried.

"Naaman is who should be careful." Neyla turned and faced in Milla's direction. "It's horrendous evil that would enslave fire itself."

"I don't understand." Milla said quietly.

"This volcano is silent because of this. He made it a slave. It's violating nature, what that bastard has done." Neyla turned again and took another step toward the wall.

"Neyla!" Milla's voice was a high warning.

Klaus moved quickly and wrapped his arms around Milla from behind.

"I can fix this." Neyla called over her shoulder and stepped quietly into the wall of flame.

Milla screamed, moving hard against his embrace. "Let me go. I promised to protect her!"

He spun her quickly in his arms and wrapped her closely to his chest. He leaned down, speaking quietly to Milla who was screaming and horror stricken.

"Milla, sweetness." He whispered near her ear. "It will be okay."

"But she'll die." Milla cried.

"No. Do you remember how I said I always sought out the best of everything?" He kept his tone quiet and warm. Milla nodded against his chest.

"It was the same for choosing witches I would employ, Milla. Neyla comes from the strongest family of witches on three continents." Milla turned to lay her ear against his chest.

"I think we just watched her forget to be afraid and remember who she is." Klaus reassured her, hands moving over her back.

It was in that moment that the wall of blue fire rippled strangely. Klaus pulled Milla out of the way, to the edge of the green jungle. The wall shuddered again and began to collapse on itself. It withdrew from the edges and began to grow thicker and stronger in the center of the wall. After a few moments it resembled a whirlwind. A flicker of the light found Neyla, a dark shadow, standing in the middle of the blue flames with her hands raised.

Klaus watched in wonder as the fire slowly siphoned away from the blue whirlwind to flow like a river up the side of the old volcano and into its open mouth. The ground shook under them when it was done.

When the fire was gone, Neyla stood smiling at both of them. Her eyes were dark again and her sight returned. Milla broke from Klaus' arms to rush Neyla, folding her into an embrace. The two women laughed together in relief at Neyla's restoration.

"What happened in there?" Milla asked, a hand on either side of Neyla's face.

"I remembered there's no such thing as a helpless witch." Neyla said with a smile. "Blind or not, I'll never be helpless."

The ground shook hard again under them and a rumble from the volcano echoed down the mountain.

"We should go. This dormant volcano officially isn't anymore, and I think it's angry." Neyla told them both with a broad smile before she turned toward the path down the mountain and to the back yard of the large white house they could all see clearly now.

Only a few minutes of walking brought them to the edge of a manicured yard and Milla looked around cautiously. The place was a two story farm style house with a wrap-around porch. The flowers that grew in small bundles next to the back door were all different kinds of flowers that were all completely white, just like the house was painted. Even the wooden lawn furniture that sat empty was painted a stark white.

The back door opened and a small man stepped onto the porch. He leaned on the porch rail with both hands and called to them.

"The three of you look exhausted. Please, come inside for something cold to drink." He smiled warmly and spoke with a cultured British accent. His hands spread in a broad gesture of welcome.

Klaus' stride slowed and Milla could sense his tension in the way he moved. She watched him take in the scene carefully, his blue eyes sweeping the stranger and the surroundings before moving carefully into the yard.

As they all drew closer, Milla found that the stranger was a thin man of average height with skin so dark it reminded her of smoke. He was shaved bald and the afternoon sunlight glistened off of his smooth head. He wore a loose white tunic and thin white pants. Even the shoes he wore were white leather. The dark skin of his face was broken up at both cheeks and at his brow line with rough deep scars that Milla knew came from severe acne at a young age. His eyes were such a dark brown that they looked black.

Klaus approached the threshold first and seemed to hesitate before he stepped smoothly into the farmhouse. Milla and Neyla followed him. The dark stranger came in behind, closing the door and warmly urging them forward. A small entryway opened up to a kitchen with a small breakfast table. Again, everything was white. The towels, the dishes, the walls and floors. They were led to a sitting room with broad windows and more white furniture.

When Milla sat, she realized that the interior wall was one long mirror, the furniture arranged to face the mirrored wall. Strangely, she did note that the mirrored wall wasn't broken up sections of mirror, as she would have expected, but rather it was one long continuous mirror that reflected light from outside to every corner of the already very bright room.

The dark man produced a tray with four glasses of iced lemonade and he offered it for them each to choose. Klaus chose first and carefully. He took the glass closest to the stranger and the two of them smiled coolly at one another over the tray. Milla noticed that Klaus didn't drink.

She sniffed hers carefully and took a sip, finding it cool and wonderful after their very hot trek through the jungle. Neyla also studied her drink for a moment before she also took a long, grateful swallow.

The dark stranger sat in a white arm chair, took a long drink of his lemonade and set the glass on a white table before he leaned back in his chair.

"What can I do for you?" His voice was soft, his eyes kind as he crossed one leg over the other, the very picture of ease.

It was Klaus that answered as he leaned forward in his seat on the soft white leather couch.

"We are looking for the man called Naaman."

The stranger laughed. "Well, then, this is your lucky day. You have found him." He reached a hand and Klaus took it with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I already know that you are Niklaus Mikaelson, the immortal."

Neyla leaned forward stiffly, shifting to face Naaman. She nodded her head slowly at him before she spoke.

"So it was you that enslaved the volcano?" She gestured with one hand out the window as the ground shook under them. Her voice was deep and her dark eyes hard.

Naaman smiled and acknowledged her accusation with a nod.

"And it must be you, Neyla Abara, who freed it." He told her, his voice still soft but echoing equally with accusation.

Neyla mimicked him, smiling coldly and nodding once.

Klaus shifted to face Naaman in his seat.

"I have some questions for you." Klaus spoke carefully, his head tilting to one side.

"By all means…" Naaman gestured with one hand, indicating that Klaus had the floor.

"You cast a locating spell that became attached to me." Klaus' voice had deepened. Milla heard anger in the words.

Naaman smiled, inclining his head to again acknowledge the accusation.

"Why?" Klaus had moved to the edge of his seat as he asked the one word question.

"A favor." Naaman answered simply with a casual shrug, but his soft voice caught at the words.

The house shook harder and a loud explosion broke the moment of silence.

Naaman's dark eyes, with one brow up, met Neyla's. "That will be your volcano, now roused from its rest." His soft voice grew surprisingly deep.

Neyla only smiled knowingly.

"Who was given access to the spell you cast?" Klaus asked quickly, interrupting the exchange.

"Only one person. For a price. Celeste Broussard." Naaman grinned, folding his hands in his lap.

Milla watched Klaus draw back abruptly at Naaman's answer.

"It seems you knew her mother quite well some years ago. Not the most pleasant or intelligent of your kind I've dealt with, but we had a mutual goal." Naaman's grin deepened as he watched Klaus' discomfort.

Milla leaned forward then, trying to follow Naaman's answers and her eyes met his as he reached for his abandoned glass of lemonade. Unintentionally she connected with him empathically.

The sound of a raw cry of fury, like what would come from some monstrous predator, filled her senses and carried with it a soul ravaging echo of grief. It struck with the force of a savage attack. For her, more than just being aware of violent loathing, it became her own in an instant.

Milla was forced abruptly to her feet under the power of it, a deep inhuman growl rising up as her wolf roared to life in answer. Her eyes flashed to solid gold and moved over Klaus with dark contempt. The hatred emanating from Naaman and its echo were enough to turn her love to murderous revulsion in less than a breath.

Klaus stood, folding her in strong arms against his chest. She shook hard against him, but he was stronger and held on.

"It is alright. Shhhhhh. Be at peace, love." His voice whispered quietly near her ear.

Milla panted against him as reality seeped in again and the fury was gone as quickly as it came.

After a deep breath, she whispered. "Hatred. And grief. He blames you for something terrible."

Naaman, still calmly seated, began to chuckle to himself. The sound of it brought Milla's eyes up to meet Klaus', which were now narrowed in concern. They both turned to the source of the laughter.

Naaman clapped his hands together, his mirth gathering volume.

"When I realized it was a werewolf that you had taken up with, I was puzzled. They are about as common and valuable as a stray dog. But this one…." He shook his dark head, his eyes dancing. "An empath who lacks control over her gift…over herself. And yet, here I sit, outed by a common cur. Masterful choice of a companion, I must say." Spiteful sarcasm rang in the last words as Naaman stood to his feet, clapping slowly to the sound of his own derisive laughter.

Nearly instantly Klaus was standing with his hand around Naaman's throat, holding the man up in the air by the grip. But rather than struggle against him or seem alarmed, Naaman's dark eyes narrowed. He closed one of his hands over Klaus' and the impossibly strong grip around his throat was broken. Naaman dropped abruptly to the carpeted floor again.

Naaman's hand over Klaus' turned it slowly back on him, with Klaus gasping against his adversary's unexpected strength. Milla heard the sharp crunch of bones snapping in Klaus' hand. The sound drove her to her feet in alarm.

Naaman stood over Klaus, one hand still wrapped around Klaus' broken one and his lips spread to a smile over gritted white teeth.

"You killed my love. And you cannot die. So I was willing to settle for the same in kind. Celeste intended to waste your lover. But clearly she failed." He turned carelessly away, maintaining his grip on Klaus to sweep his eyes over Milla.

Klaus took that moment to swing with his other fist, landing it hard into Naaman's abdomen. But it didn't pierce his chest as Milla expected. Impacting with force instead, the dark man was bent forward and released Klaus' hand in the process.

In another flash of movement, Naaman closed in on Klaus and swung with one doubled fist, making connection with Klaus' jaw as he rose to standing. Klaus was forced up off the ground with the blow and he flew, striking the mirror a couple of feet behind him and sliding down again.

Milla and Neyla watched, astounded. Milla had never seen someone who was equally as strong as Klaus, except maybe Elijah. But she'd never seen the two of them fight. She fought with herself about whether she should help him, wondering if she would just get in his way.

Rising quickly to his feet, Klaus laid the hand Naaman had injured against the mirrored wall and leaned against it, flattening it there. Milla heard a crunch of bones as they shifted back to alignment again and saw that Klaus didn't even blink before he turned back, body low and crouched for another attack.

As he spun on his enemy, Klaus asked, "Your love?"

Naaman rose to his full height, his dark eyes hard. "Charles, you bastard." Naaman spat the name at Klaus. "And you butchered him like cattle."

Klaus stood as well, the two of them eye to eye, now circling. "He threatened my family." Klaus' head had cocked to one side, his eyes narrowed in challenge.

"Then I will make good on his last words." Naaman rumbled quietly, his soft voice deepening.

A rolling earthquake shook the entire house, the contents of the kitchen cabinets a few rooms away smashing to the floors with a loud crash.

"What I did to Charles will look like a child's birthday party compared to what I do to you." Klaus said before he lunged at Naaman, aimed at his chest. A second later Klaus made impact with the mirror instead. His enemy had disappeared into the mirror itself.

Naaman stood smiling behind the mirror, close enough to appear a breath away from Klaus, but somehow out of reach.

Klaus put both hands on the mirror's surface as he spoke again, his roaring fury in every word. "I will hunt you to the _ends of the earth_."

Milla had never seen Klaus so furious. His entire body was drawn tight, coiled to strike. His eyes were narrowed and every word was spat with force. He was terrifying and she could see he meant every word.

Milla's stomach clenched when Naaman tipped his head back and laughed. "You will only have to look for me over your shoulder, darling." Naaman ran a dark finger along the other side of the mirror near Klaus' cheek while wearing a broad threatening smile. "_I _will come for _you_. You are immortal. But I _will _make you wish for death.I will come for all you value. Your witch, your lover. Nothing will be safe from me." He laughed again as he turned in the image of the mirror and disappeared around a doorway beyond reach.

Klaus roared in fury, smashing both hands against the mirror as it shattered around him.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

They had been back only a day when Klaus found himself sitting in Elijah's study, both of them holding a glass of brandy and examining each other over Elijah's desk.

Klaus had just said the words, out loud, for the first time. He had to say it, own what he'd done.

"You did WHAT?" Elijah's deep voice had doubled in volume with the last word and the dark eyes that met Klaus' looked hard as granite.

Klaus bowed his head, staring with all his might at the floor. All he could do was nod.

Elijah's chair creaked as he leaned back. The glass of liquor sloshed as he flung it at the fireplace and the room filled with the crackling flash of the fire as the alcohol ignited.

"Should have killed her." Klaus admitted with a pained murmur.

Elijah drew a deep breath and Klaus braced for the attack he had coming. The deep breath was Elijah's tell. He always did that before he broke loose with violence. Much deserved violence in this case.

After a few moments of silence, Klaus looked up into his brother's dark eyes again. They were glittering at him, lined with standing tears.

"God how that must've killed you." Elijah said and drew another deep breath. Before Klaus knew what was happening his brother was moving around the desk and dragging him up and into an embrace.

Klaus froze for a moment before he braced his brow on Elijah's shoulder.

"I have to say I expected a more violent reaction to my nearly killing your wife's god daughter." Klaus told him, his voice dry and rough.

"You couldn't control it. You said that yourself." Elijah said as he stepped back and leaned on the edge of his desk. "But knowing how you feel about Milla; that must've been a nightmare to have nearly drained her dry and unable to prevent it."

"She was blue when I finally stopped. And I sat back to watch her die." Surely that would be enough for Elijah to finally hit him for what he'd done. He needed it…deserved it….and hoped for it.

"But she's still alive, Klaus." Elijah remained seated.

"And should not be."

"You _want_ for me to hit you." Elijah said quietly, turning to reach for the bottle of Scotch and another glass beside him.

Klaus stood and turned away, angry now too. "Yes, damn it. I would do it myself if I could."

"It looks to me like you've found a way. You've already taken quite a beating for this. You might want to let up on that." Klaus could hear the smile in Elijah's voice.

In a flash he had his hand around his brother's throat as fury boiled under Klaus' skin.

"I. Almost. Killed. Her." Klaus said it slowly through gritted teeth.

Elijah didn't resist, he just looked at Klaus.

"God! You are as bad a she is!" Klaus roared at him, hand still around Elijah's throat.

Both of Elijah's hands came up to Klaus' wrist. "This was not your fault. Control was taken from you."

"We both know there is always the chance that thing will come out again. I could hurt her, kill her and walk away feeling nothing. Given the chance I could destroy her with my weakness." Klaus roared again.

Elijah smiled at Klaus then. "You are many things, brother. Weak is not one of them."

A shuddering breath rattled out of Klaus and he removed his hand from Elijah's throat. Slow and pained, he moved to sit on the desk's edge next to Elijah.

"What did she say when it was done?" Elijah made the question sound casual, like his interest was negligible.

Klaus tipped his face up and closed his eyes. To him, this was the worst and the best of it.

"That she loved me, with or without my humanity."

Elijah drew in a harsh gasp and was silent for a long while.

Klaus finally turned and looked Elijah in the eyes.

"You should marry her before she gets away, brother. We both know that love like that won't come around again." Elijah placed a careful hand on Klaus' shoulder, his eyes wide and bright.

"After I tell you the rest of it, you will agree with me when I say that what Milla needs more than anything is to see the back of me permanently."

Klaus detailed all of it. He told Elijah about the protective spells they had to maneuver, Namaan's home, his manner, every word that he spoke and his surprising strength, including his ability to walk into a mirror and escape Klaus' grasp. He ended his story with the threat against anything and everything that Klaus valued….especially Milla.

Elijah didn't stop him or ask questions until the end.

"And the witch?" Elijah asked, both of them still perched on the edge of his desk.

"We went back to her home, gathered a few of her things and her passport. She felt that staying with her family might put them at risk. And we have extra rooms. Milla is probably making up her bed right now." Klaus tipped his glass up and drained it.

"Sounds like she will be valuable in a fight." Elijah said before he drained his glass as well.

"This puts you and Elena, anyone, everyone at risk. Because I killed a worthless piece of humanity that dared threaten you all to begin with." Klaus hung his head again.

"I would have done the same." Elijah said quietly and Klaus didn't answer, though his brother's words did lift some of the burden he'd been carrying all the way back from Africa.

Elijah poured them both another glass as he asked, "How do you think he was as strong as you? A spell, you think?"

Klaus took the glass Elijah offered as he spoke. "I have been thinking about that for hours. I have used that sort of magic you are suggesting myself. Inhabiting a human body, spelled with extraordinary strength. The best witches available could not have made a human that strong. So, no, I do not think it was a spell that gave Naaman his strength. And I have never even _heard_ of anyone who could walk into a mirror image and disappear. Never."

"So you don't think he's human." Elijah put into words what Klaus had been thinking.

"I do not see how he could be." Klaus answered quietly.

"And you're planning on leaving?" Elijah had put his glass down and crossed his arms over his chest.

"It seems the best plan. I remove myself to draw the risk away with me." Klaus' voice had deepened. Just the thought brought him pain.

"Like hell." Elijah's voice had also grown deeper, his tone sending off warning bells in Klaus' brain.

Turning quickly to look at Elijah's profile, he could see his brother's face had grown taut. He was furious. Now he was furious and Klaus couldn't make sense of it.

"What…? Why are you…?" Klaus didn't get a chance to finish a sentence. Elijah drew a deep breath and it was his turn to lay hands on his brother. Both strong hands wrapped around Klaus' throat and squeezed.

"I think you are terrified. Not of some inhuman stranger and his threats. Of Milla. Of her actually loving you. You want to do what you've always done. Turn and run." Elijah's teeth ground together as he spoke.

Klaus grew angry too, just as quickly. One hand on each of Elijah's wrists broke the grip and Klaus took three steps, to stand in front of a window, staring out.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Damn you, Klaus. When someone loves you, you find a reason to walk away or destroy it. Milla deserves better that what you've always done. If this stranger is coming, he will no doubt come whether you're here or not, already knowing who and what you love. Admit it. This Naaman isn't the problem. Milla loving you unconditionally is."

Klaus turned swiftly on Elijah, now nose to nose with his brother.

"You and Rebekah are who walked away from me, damn it!" He picked up Elijah's glass and crushed it in his hand, opening it so that the shards fell to the floor. "You discarded me like garbage."

Elijah stood, taking Klaus by the shoulders and shaking him. "We both loved you. But couldn't live under your control, brother. _You_ chased _us_ away, trying to destroy it. You have to _know _that!"

Elijah let him go and turned to walk to the far side of the room. "And I didn't walk away from you. I left to pursue the love of my life. I had been searching for centuries for her. I had to go after her. It was never about leaving you."

Klaus grew still. _Searching centuries._ Elijah had never said these things to him before. Images of other girls Elijah had shown interest in flashed through his mind.

"The doppelgangers." Klaus' voice conveyed his wonder. "All of those years. All of those faces just like Elena's."

Elijah turned and nodded slowly, meeting his eyes across the room.

"The right face. The wrong heart." Elijah admitted quietly. "Mother cast a spell."

Klaus closed his eyes slowly, understanding for the first time the torment, the pain he'd witnessed in Elijah for so many centuries. He crossed the room slowly and it was his turn to wrap arms around his brother.

Over one of Elijah's shoulders he said, "Mother and her spells. She always meant well, and created havoc anyway. I am so sorry brother. You never told me. But I understand now."

"Elena is everything to me." Elijah's voice broke with the admission.

"And I promise I will not let some threat I have brought home take her from you." Klaus vowed, Elijah clutched to his heart.

"Then you will have to stay to keep that promise. And deal with Milla in the process." Elijah leaned back and put both hands on Klaus' shoulders. "Marry her."

"I would have months ago if she would have me. She is too smart for that."

Milla was making up the bed in the room Neyla had chosen when her cell phone buzzed at her from the nightstand. It was a text message from Klaus. She picked it up, frowning. Klaus hated texting, said it was too cold and sterile for communicating when he'd always rather hear her voice.

But there it was anyway. The message said only, **Our place. Nine PM.**

Milla smiled to herself as she finished her work.

At five minutes to nine Milla was moving quietly through the woods outside their home. The moon was high and full. They hadn't run together in quite a while, so she was hoping that was his plan. He knew how much she loved it.

She found him sitting on the bench they had placed together. Their "place" was the cliff side where they made love for the first time during a thunderstorm. Klaus made sure when he bought land adjoining Elijah's that this property was part of the deal.

Klaus was turned away and leaned forward, elbows braced on bent knees when she emerged from the trees. He wore a dark blue silk shirt she'd bought him because it matched his eyes. In the light from the moon she could see the line of his shoulders and feel his stress just in the way he held himself. Her heart sped.

Klaus stood abruptly and turned to face her. Evidently the loud thrum of her heart had announced her.

"Hello." He said. The word was clipped. His head was angled downward a little, his shoulders shifting. Klaus made a point to avoid meeting her eyes. Just like before.

Milla's heart sped up some more. This was exactly how he'd acted the morning he left her. Tense, clipped and pained. All of those things were right here.

Knowing his concerns about what they might be facing with this new enemy, along with the way he thought, Milla understood all too clearly the reason for their meeting here.

_Oh, hell no! He's saying goodbye. Again._

Pain ripped through her as her wolf roared to life. Fury took its place at the forefront as she kept her two legs and decided she'd do this herself. She closed the distance between them on swift feet. One leap had her clearing the back of the bench and using one foot hitting it hard to gain more momentum. She struck his chest squarely, both knees bent together and the two of them rolled over the edge of the small cliff, tangled together head over foot as they fell the thirty feet to the bottom.

"What the HELL?" Klaus roared as they fell. A sharp grunt from him found her straddling him, one hand braced against each of his shoulders.

They landed in a field of tall grass, thankfully missing sharp rocks or other obstructions.

"You caught me off guard last time. Not this time. You want to leave me again for my own good. But not without a fight!" The words were a low growl. Milla swung a right hook at his face with all of her might that sank into the hard ground as he dodged and rolled them both.

Now he was over her, hands wrapped around her arms.

"Milla! Stop! I am not here to fight with you." She shifted her hips under him and rolled, snatching herself free.

Over him again, she ground out the words. "No. You're here to leave. To walk away and think you'll keep me safe. How could you think that would be better? No matter what, the least you could do is _stand with me!_" Her eyes filled with tears and she blinked them angrily away, swinging a left hook at him this time that he didn't see coming.

She made solid contact with his jaw and his head was rocked back against the ground. He blinked and she watched anger flame to life in his eyes.

In a flash she was pinned to the ground, his blue eyes were hard and angry as he held her down with one hand over both her wrists. A drip of blood rolled from the corner of his mouth.

But just as quickly as it came, the anger in his eyes was gone. Because they were chest to chest, she felt the sudden rush of his heart racing against her own. He drew in and released a ragged breath. An unsteady hand cupped her cheek.

"You would fight me, to keep me here with you?" His question held a hushed wonder and his eyes were lit with something she couldn't name. His voice was as unsteady as his hands.

She only nodded, the light in his eyes holding her captive. That wasn't all. With his hips surrounding hers, he was also suddenly wondrously aroused…like her wordless answer had the power to move him deeply. Instinct had her hips shifting under him, angling up to move closer. A violent shudder racked him and he let out another ragged breath.

After a hard swallow, he seemed to force himself away and to standing.

"We have to talk first." He told her unsteadily and extended a hand to help her up. "I promise this is not what you think, Milla. I am not trying to leave."

Milla finally stood and he wrapped his arms around her, bringing them both swiftly back up the cliff's edge. He urged her to sit on the bench he had to set back up and he joined her, leaving a space between them. The tension and the pain were back again, clear in the way he moved and the set of his shoulders. But now Milla had no idea why.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she reached him, but didn't touch.

Klaus leaned back on the seat, crossing one leg over another. After only a few seconds of stillness, he shifted again to lean forward, both hands clasped, elbows on his knees like he'd been when she found him.

He pulled a deep breath and turned, opening his mouth like he would say something and stopped abruptly. He blinked a few times before he met her eyes and closed his lips.

Because she was watching him so closely, when his eyes met hers she unintentionally connected with him. Love and apprehension moved over her like the swift current of a tidal wave.

"Klaus." She said his name because he'd turned away after meeting her eyes for only a second.

He turned back and she took one of his hands.

"Tell me, honey." She whispered, pressing a kiss to the back of his hand.

He leaned back and drew her next to him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Somehow I never dreamed this would be so hard." He said and she could hear the smile in his voice as he pressed a kiss to her hair.

Finally, slowly he started to speak, his timbre and accent weaving a quiet story for her.

"The person I was before I knew you…..he spent every effort, all his time and energy in building connections. First with family, then with others as dark as he was. He believed that the need to be respected and appreciated drove him. He took from others by force what they refused to give him freely. So, one by one, he ultimately destroyed every relationship, every connection he had spent so much effort to build." Milla turned and studied his profile as he spoke. His blue eyes were distant and pained.

"What he really, truly wanted was acceptance and love, though he did not know it." He leaned his head back against the edge of the bench behind them gazing at the night sky. "As dark as he was, he hoped for someone to see him, to see _all of him_ and love him despite his faults and failures, as vast as they were. It is what every villain secretly hopes for, if you want to know the truth….to believe that they can be still be loved."

He leaned forward again and met her eyes.

"I am telling you all of this to tell you that you are my miracle." Milla gasped at his words, at the look in his eyes.

"But…I…." Milla stammered.

"Yes. I know what you are going to say. That you are imperfect." He shrugged and smiled indulgently. "I already know. You snore like a lumberjack when you are overtired. You leave the cap off the toothpaste like it is your job. And _every time_ you go into the kitchen you leave a different cabinet door or drawer open. For the first month we lived together I thought we had a poltergeist." He ticked off the list on his fingers one at a time, his smile growing wider as he went. Milla slipped a hand up over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

His expression grew solemn as he spoke again. "You are also stubbornly self-sufficient and proud." His smile grew tender. "So much so that I worry it will be the end of you sometimes."

Milla couldn't help but smile again. It was true. All of it. _He had noticed her faults after all. He just accepted her as she was._

"All of that changes nothing. _A miracle_ is what you are to me." He shifted on the seat then and moved away a little, taking one of her hands.

"You have seen all of me. The good, the _very_ bad, the grumpy old man." He smiled a little sheepishly at her. "I cannot hide from you. And you remain. By some miracle from above, you love me still. You are the love of my life. I do not have to tell you that it has been a very long, very lonely one. You are the bright, peaceful summer day I have always hoped for." Milla's eyes filled and she smiled.

Words began to rush out of him under the warmth of her smile. "The person I was would have made this moment a spectacle. A string quartet, a fancy party, fine dining and champagne all accompanied by a fireworks display to convince you to say yes. But I am not that person anymore. So it is only you and me and our place."

He met her eyes and she could see an appeal there, but she still didn't understand. He drew a deep, shaky breath before he shifted off the seat and went down on both knees. Milla's heart began to pound so hard then that she thought it would run away without her.

"You told me that you have decided I am your "once". I know you do not believe in fairy tales. But I can believe enough for the both of us. Because _this is my_ fairytale. And I want more than anything to be your husband and your mate. Will you let me be that for you? Protect you? Provide for you? Love you?"

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box, opened it and turned it to her. The contents of the box sparkled up at her.

He whispered. "Will you marry me, Milla?"

All she could say was "Ohhhhh." Hands came up to cover her face as shameful horror filled her. He was trying to propose and she'd attacked him. She was shaking her head with the shame.

She looked up after a moment and met his blue eyes. His apprehension had peaked, singing at top volume around her like an Italian aria. He was waiting for an answer and she was making this worse for him than she had already.

_Milla, you are a doofus_, she scolded herself.

"Yes. Of course, yes." She sighed as tears rolled. "But this is too much." Her gaze strayed to the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen.

"Nonsense. It is perfect for you. You are my sunlight." He smiled and kissed her as he slid the engagement ring on her finger. Behind him there was a loud explosion and the sky was filled with a massive fireworks display that lit up the horizon.

"Maybe there is still a bit of him in here somewhere." He whispered with a smile while she giggled at the fireworks.

"Well I love him too." She told him, wrapping her arms tight around him.

"Are you sure?" He whispered in her hair so she couldn't see his expression. "No more fears then?"

She turned and tucked her face to his neck. "No more fears. I love you." She said as she pressed her lips to his skin. "And I'm sorry I came at you like that." The words were whispered between kisses.

"I am not." Those unsteady hands of his moved to either side of her neck and up into her hair. "You are perfect. A woman who will fight with me and for me. What more could I ask for?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: I just want to say, if you're under 18, you might want to turn back with this chapter. Or stop with the burning candles at least. Things get a little...ahem...heated there.**

Chapter 13

Milla had been back to work for three days, determinedly moving back to her normal routine. She was replacing tools in her box when she noticed something going on. John was standing near the back door talking to someone when she heard a familiar voice echo in the garage.

"I'm looking for an ungrateful wretch. Stands about so tall, golden eyes, long blonde hair, smoking hot. Have you seen her?" It was a loud, deep voice Milla would know anywhere rumbling across the building.

Milla moved slowly in their direction, wiping her hands as she went. John was looking protective and annoyed. On a man as big as John, that was a daunting sight and she could almost smell trouble brewing.

"I thought we had standards around here. We're just letting the crazy street people wander around the place now?" She said with a smile and Damon turned to meet her eyes, his wide to match his grin.

"There she is!" He flung his arms open and Milla rushed into them.

Her chin resting on Damon's shoulder, Milla addressed John and the confused look he was wearing since she was facing him.

"John, this is Damon. He's been getting me into trouble since I was ten years old. One of my oldest and dearest friends."

"_Oldest_, maybe. Clearly not with the _dearest_, or she would have returned my calls. Hence the ungrateful wretch thing. And most of that 'trouble' was your idea, little girl." Damon rumbled, closing his eyes as his arms went protectively around her.

"What's brought you out of your cave and hibernation?" She asked with a smile, still locked against his chest.

"Rumor has it you're planning to marry a pit viper. That's just exactly enough to bring me here." He leaned back to survey her face. "Have you lost your mind?" He hissed at her.

Milla watched Damon's comment register with John as his green eyes widened with worry and met hers. Milla winked at him.

"And so the pot calls the kettle black." Milla answered Damon with a grin.

Damon stiffened and leaned back a little further to search her face. His crystal blue eyes rolled in irritation and one dark dramatic brow went up like a flag in the wind.

"Someone's been telling stories." He growled.

"Proving anyone can change." Milla growled back at him with a grin.

"Is this why the radio silence?" His crystal blue eyes widened and narrowed as Milla met them. Damon's pain became a low hum around her like feedback from a microphone.

She wrapped him up close again. "Of course not! I'm sorry. There was drama at home. I wasn't really speaking to anybody for a while. Not just you. And we just got back from Africa a few days ago after nearly a week. Cell phones don't work so good there."

Milla felt his chest rise and fall with a silent sigh.

He leaned back and turned, offering a hand to John. John smiled and shook it before he nodded to them both and wandered away.

Damon rounded on Milla when John disappeared.

"Why him, though, Mills? Seriously." Hands came up to both her arms. "If it had to be one of us, why not someone a little more…safe?"

Milla's brows went up as she grinned at Damon, looking him up and down. "Are you volunteering?"

"Me?" Damon laughed. "No, I don't qualify either. But…uh…" He pondered for a second, and she could see he was thinking fast, hoping to deter her. "Stefan. Yeah. He's perfect for you. Single. Vamp. Hero hair. Furrowed brow. Perfect."

"Silly. Stefan is like a brother to me. And I didn't go looking for a vamp to fall in love with. It just happened." Milla wrapped her hand around his bent elbow and led him back out the door so they wouldn't be overheard. "Besides, one bad argument with Stefan and I'd take a chance of killing him with one bite."

Damon smiled, "Which is why we tolerate Klaus."

Milla grew still. "What do you mean?"

"Klaus. He's a walking antidote for a wolf bite for us. The only one. You know that, though."

"Klaus…how?"

"His blood. That's how Elena survived when you bit her before." Damon's blue eyes were wide. "You didn't know?"

Milla swallowed hard, shaking her head. Her heart was racing, one hand clutched to her chest. _Klaus…all this time._

Damon's eyes went wider. He focused first on her bare left hand on her chest before his eyes shifted to the new yellow gold chain around her neck that was weighed down to disappear beneath her shirt. It was another gift from Niklaus for her to wear while she was working. Damon plucked the chain and the ring that had hung below her neckline dangled freely between them.

"My god." He breathed, studying it closely. It was a large oval shaped bright yellow diamond on a wide yellow gold band shaped like a ring of leaves. The ring hung there, sparkling between them in the bright sunshine.

Milla reached quickly and covered it with her hand. "Hush."

"But that's a canary diamond. Those are extremely rare at that size. This must be worth at least a mill…" Damon went on until Milla slipped her other hand up over his mouth.

"I said _hush_." She whispered at him.

Damon's eyes were huge.

"When he asked me, he said I was his sunlight." She was still whispering as she removed her hand from his mouth. Her voice was tight and her chest aching at the memory of the look in Klaus' eyes.

"Well, it's roughly the size of the sun and nearly as bright. The guy has discerning taste, I'll give him that. But _married_ though? Seriously? You do realize the 'til death do us part' thing won't even be an escape hatch _you _could look forward to if you do this."

Milla swatted his shoulder. "Damon!"

He lifted a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug and rolled his eyes grudgingly. "Yeah, okay. Kidding. Sort of."

Damon really wasn't kidding though. She could see his very real concern.

"I love him." She said it softly.

"More than cars?" He probed, equally as softly.

Milla grinned again and nodded. "Even. More. Than. Cars."

Damon hung his head and shook it mournfully.

"It'll break this old, withered heart. But I'll allow it, then." He snuck a peak out of the corner of his eye at her and grinned wickedly at when she smiled at him. "Stefan and I will even throw you an engagement party. The Boardinghouse. Next Saturday night. All the usual victims, of course."

A few hours later Klaus paused and knocked lightly on the unmarked door. A moment later a deep booming voice invited him in. He smiled to himself, thinking about how easily humans did that. This was a public business though, so he hadn't really needed the invitation.

John sat behind a desk that he towered over, leaned down to his work with a pair of glasses balanced precariously on his nose. Klaus noticed that the cast and sling John had still worn the last time he saw him were gone.

"Hello. Milla's not here. She left early today." John told him, his green eyes wide.

"Yes. I know." Klaus closed the door and John's eyes went a little wider.

"We have not been formally introduced. I am Niklaus Mikaelson. My friends call me Klaus." He extended a hand and John rose from behind his desk to take it, pulling his glasses off in the process.

"John Peak." The man spoke his name as he stood, reaching for Klaus' hand.

Klaus grinned, thinking of his initial impression of this human as mountainous and that he even wore a mountain's name. His smile grew as the other man's hand dwarfed his for a firm handshake.

"May I sit?" Klaus gestured to a chair.

"Sure." John tried to shrug casually but didn't quite manage it as he sank again to his office chair.

Klaus sat carefully on the small aluminum chair and met John's eyes across the desk.

"I am told I have a tendency toward bluntness. So…may I speak frankly, man to man?"

He watched John draw a deep, wary breath at that before he nodded once.

"I know that Milla has told you the truth." Klaus leaned back in the little chair, crossing one leg over the other.

John nodded again, his lips clamped firmly shut.

"Humans who are entrusted with our secrets tend to become embroiled in them." Klaus paused and leaned forward slightly, searching John's eyes.

"I have been around a very, very long time and I have seen it time and again. It is not something we usually intend, to do harm, by drawing humans into our world. But everything has consequences. The end result is always great change – sometimes good, sometimes bad. She did not realize it. But what Milla has told you puts you at this sort of risk. If you would prefer to stop there, to minimize any lasting effects, I can respect that and this conversation will end right now." With that, Klaus leaned back, waiting for an answer.

It was John's turn to study Klaus. Klaus watched the man's eyes move slowly over him before Klaus saw his jaw clench and knew the human had come to a decision.

"Would my wife be in any danger?" Another facet of this man Klaus could appreciate. John's first priority was the safety of his wife.

"From what I have seen, it would be only if she knows. You would be protecting her with your silence." Klaus answered honestly.

"Then I have spent my whole life avoiding risk. I'm damned tired of it." John leaned back and braced a hand on each arm of his office chair.

"Good." Klaus nodded once. "Milla has chosen to trust you. She understands people better than I ever will. Trusting her judgement, I will trust you as well."

Klaus blinked and his face shifted. He knew his eyes would be rimmed in red, the dark veins around his brow line and cheekbones would be visible and he smiled slowly. The long, sharp fangs glittered in the stark light.

To his credit, John didn't really react, apart from the fact that Klaus noticed he'd stopped breathing and his heart had tripled in speed. Klaus had seen many reactions at this moment, but few as dignified as this human's.

"I have options available that allow me to feed without hurting anyone. I live a quiet, peaceful life." Klaus purposely hadn't shifted his appearance back, giving John a moment to adjust. "I assume you understand what I am."

John nodded again once, but still didn't speak. With that, Klaus relaxed, his face returning to his normal appearance.

"Not so very long ago a large community of wolves turned their back on Milla. Dozens of people she had loved and trusted since childhood turned her away because she was different." Klaus' voice grew deeper by degrees as he spoke.

"And that pissed you off." John filled in, leaning forward to his desk earnestly. "It must have. Because just hearing it pisses me off now."

John's already deep voice hit rock bottom and sounded like it was scraped roughly across gravel. Klaus decided then and there that he genuinely liked this human. Milla was right to trust him.

Klaus smiled. "Yes." He wrapped clasped hands around his propped knee. "That would be an understatement."

"Milla desperately needs connection. To be surrounded by people that she cares for and trusts." Klaus paused, searching John's face again. "I believe this is why she trusted you. To be connected again. So I have come to make you an offer. In my effort to maintain the connection she craves."

John's brows dipped to furrows. "I don't understand."

"Have you considered selling your garage? The business?" Klaus asked him quietly. He watched John's face flush at the question.

"I tried. Yes. Without success." Klaus appreciated John's honesty.

"What if I was willing to buy it from you? Remodeling. Expansion. Modernization. New equipment, tools, benefits for the employees, possibly a new location with better foot traffic and advertising."

John leaned forward and rested a hand on the desk between them before he spoke.

"I have to be honest here. I'm in the red. In sixty days I'll be filing for bankruptcy protection. After that you could buy all of it for less than cost."

"Yes. I know." Klaus looked pointedly around the small office rather than scrutinize John while he let that sink in. "But this is about more than the equipment and the building."

When John remained quiet, Klaus went on. "Milla loves this place. She has finally agreed to make an honest man of me. I am thinking of a wedding gift." John was watching him again, wide eyed. "Milla has very little interest in material things. She values people more. That is where you come in."

"I will give you twenty five percent over market value in exchange for you staying to manage the place and pull a fair salary with a full benefits package. The business will have a substantial cash infusion. Milla will remain in the role she already has, as a part time mechanic. No one needs to even know. Any eventual profit would be icing on the cake. Nice, but not required. My corporation will become a silent owner. _Completely_ silent."

Klaus leaned forward slowly and rested an elbow on the desk.

John was blinking at him rapidly. "Why would you do that?"

"Two reasons. This place, you and your employees, all of it gives Milla joy. My world was a very, very dark place before she came along. She is my sunlight. That makes her joy priceless to me."

"You should probably know that she wasted away slowly while you were gone. It was like watching a portrait being erased, one day at a time." John said it quietly.

It was John's turn to be watching for a reaction as he went on. "She never said a word to me. But I think things were dark for her too."

Klaus smiled, a slow one that lit his face. "Thank you for that."

Klaus leaned forward a little more in his sincerity. "I know that our reconciliation was fueled by your encouragement. For Milla and I, this makes you like family. That is my second reason for buying this place. This is what family does. We help when we can."

John sat back in his chair. He looked stunned. He ran a hand over his beard like he was thinking hard.

"From what I'm seeing, it looks like your kind are either very good or very bad." John was asking Klaus to confirm or deny that with his expression.

Klaus laughed because he couldn't help himself. John's words implied he thought Klaus was the first. "I suppose that is true. But I will admit that before Milla, I would have fit the latter category. She tends to carry profound change with her wherever she goes."

John tipped his head back and boomed out a laugh before he spoke. "And ain't that the truth!"

Klaus stood and John rose slowly.

"Do we have a deal, then?" Klaus asked pointedly when John still hadn't spoken.

"Yes. I think we do."

"Then I will have lawyers and a team of accountants here tomorrow morning. If there is a lawyer you already trust, we will arrange for that. We will let them hammer out the details and make this all official. We will also figure in workable options if you should decide to buy it back along the way. I do understand that this place was your dream and we would never stand in the way of that."

That evening Klaus came through the door of their home and caught the floral scent immediately. The lights were all off, but Milla was home. He could smell her, fresh from bathing, before he ever saw her. He followed his nose up the stairs and found their bedroom strewn with dozens of lit candles from one end to the other.

Milla sat in the center of their bed wearing nothing but a warm smile and her engagement ring. She stood and came close, the long smooth lines of her body lit by candlelight. Without speaking, she began to gently strip away his clothes. Her smile and the heat in her eyes kept his lips clamped tightly shut behind a smile of his own.

When his clothes were gone, she stood behind him pressing warm lips to his shoulders, her electric hands moving slowly over his skin. He wrestled with the building turmoil inside him as she moved smoothly around and pressed those wide pink lips to his chest. It made his heart sputter awkwardly in answer.

His hands came up to reach for her and she stopped, met his eyes and shook her head. She didn't want for him to touch her.

He opened his mouth to ask her what this was all about, but she put a finger over his lips. Desire in her eyes answered the most important questions he had, so he smiled and clamped his mouth shut again.

After a few more moments of silent chaos, she took his hand and led him to their bed. She stood aside and waited for him to go first, to the middle where he stretched out and she joined him on her knees.

"Don't move." She whispered at him as she ran her hands slowly over his chest. He released a ragged breath as his eyes drifted closed.

"I am not sure I can promise that, love." He answered her with a deep whisper of his own.

She stopped and smiled down at him, her eyes warm and wise. "You will or I'll buy log chains for next time."

Klaus laughed at her boldness and didn't tell her that wouldn't hold him either if he didn't want to be held. Just now, with her lovely hands moving over him, he _did _want to be held. So he smiled and kept himself still as she started to speak between warm kisses and electric caresses.

"I have learned something about you." Milla told him, her lips against his throat making him shiver.

He didn't answer, but he grew more still, feeling cautious. She leaned up to look at him. Her eyes, with their loving golden depths shimmering up at him, assured him there was no need for caution.

"I saw Damon today. While he was trying to talk me into choosing someone safer, he let slip something I never knew."

Klaus sat up swiftly, his arms coming up around her.

"Someone safer? What does that mean exactly?" Klaus' voice was gruff as he asked it, staying just this side of a roar. _Salvatore be damned. I'll have his tongue yet,_ he thought.

"He's under the impression that you're dangerous." She answered him casually, her tone implying she had no idea where her friend had ever gotten such an idea. All the while she was gently pushing his shoulders back to the bed again.

Klaus rumbled his frustration but forgot why he was irritated under her hands and her lips as she started to move lower.

_God, I want her so much I can barely breathe, _he thought as he concentrated on pulling air into his lungs and the sound of his heart roared in his ears.

As she meticulously trailed kisses up his inner thigh, she spoke again.

"He suggested I take up with his brother." Klaus could hear the laughter in her voice as he sat bolt upright again almost before she'd finished speaking.

"I will kill them both, damn it!" He growled.

A languid crawl on all fours brought her up over him, nudging him back down by kissing him senseless again. He recognized what she was doing, but he was already lost anyway, so why fight it? When he was subdued, she began her trail down his body just as slowly as before.

Every time he moved, she started again at his neck and slowly worked her way down, getting slower each time. _The price I pay for interrupting her_, he realized with a smile.

"Damon has a big mouth, but he means well. No reason to be angry. Stefan sees me as a little sister. Damon was just mouthing off. But he told me this one thing that's brought us here." Her tongue in his navel made him forget for a flash what they were even talking about. Or why words were necessary at all?

_Why does she insist on having serious conversations while she drives me to the edge of sanity? _He wondered distantly.

He gasped rather than commenting, his body drawing tight with need. With that, she moved again to kissing his inner thigh, making his gasps more ragged.

"I learned it was you that saved Elena when I bit her." She whispered the words against his skin and he grew completely still, his eyes snapping open as alarm tore through him.

_No. Oh, no, _he thought, his heart kicking into overdrive.

He sat up again and she met him, kissing his lips before he could speak.

"Love, there is more to that story." He gasped against her lips, shame and need making his skin flush.

"More than that you saved her life?"

"Yes." He swallowed hard, his throat working. "I did it with bad intentions. I was someone else."

She smiled at him. "I know." Milla pressed an open mouthed kiss to his shoulder.

He drew a deep breath as he told her gruffly, "I do not deserve your gratitude, or anything else for what I did that day, Milla." This was the reason he'd remained silent on the subject.

She kissed his cheek and moved down along his jaw, but all he could think was that she wasn't listening. There had been no kindness in his actions when he saved Elena's life that night more than two years ago. He had done it solely for his own gain, but Milla wasn't hearing him.

He put both hands on her shoulders and forced her to meet his eyes.

"Milla. Listen." His voice was strangled.

She smiled and put both hands on his cheeks. "I do understand. It's not just that you saved her. That's not the only reason we're here. You did it for your own reasons. I get that. But you have to understand what this means for me." Her voice caught and he watched tears fill her eyes.

His heart in his throat, he pulled her close, wrapping both arms around her neck. He didn't know what had brought her to tears but his impulse was to protect her from it.

Her head tucked tightly under his chin, she spoke again.

"In the jungle, I told you I could love you with or without your humanity because I am a monster too. Remember?"

He nodded. If he was honest, he'd never really understood the comparison.

"To the people I love, I'm like a poisonous snake. One moment, one loss of control and someone might be killed. Anyone else like me can hide themselves away on one night a month to avoid risk like that. But for me, the potential is always there because I'm not bound by the moon. Anytime, anywhere I could lose my grip on myself and kill someone I love with a single bite. I have lived with that since the day my curse came to life and what I did to Elena." She wrapped her small arms around his chest and held on tight.

"But here you are. _You're the answer._ The man I love is the only cure for my being poisonous to my family. You called me your miracle. Now I find that you're also mine, just by being who you are. I fell in love with you and I had no idea." Milla leaned back to meet his gaze with happy tears running down her cheeks. The look in her eyes took his breath away.

Klaus pulled her close and breathed a long sigh of relief. He had feared she was thinking him some sort of hero for saving her godmother, giving him more credit than he deserved. But Milla saw more clearly than that, seeing implications of their life together he'd not even considered.

She rose to her knees and pushed him back again to the bed. Each kiss she pressed to his skin now was followed by the words _I love you_.

Because it was still echoing in his head, he had to ask. "I take it, then, that you will not be running away with Stefan Salvatore?"

She chuckled against the skin of his thigh. "No. There's just you for me. No one else will do."

A deep, fevered groan escaped as Milla's small, hot tongue began to move along the length of him, on the underside. He made the dire mistake of opening his eyes and looking down. She was there, at his center, beauty itself…her skin alight in the candlelight. Her golden eyes flickered up at him and he could read their message for himself. He was her prey and she would devour him alive, leaving only the bones she'd picked clean in her wake. And his would be grateful bones.

Head thrown back with his hands braced against the headboard, he couldn't help but move, his hips leaving the bed and his body shuddering desperately. Control was a distant memory. Unconsciously he brought a hand up over his face as his back bowed on its own. Milla pulled away abruptly leaving him nearly blind with need.

She kissed a slow trail up his abdomen before she spoke.

"Don't cover your face. I want to watch." The words were a husky whisper in his ear.

The snail's pace returned as she worked her way down again across his body, weaving an electric path, his panting groans marking her painfully slow progress. She stopped, on her way across his chest to draw a dark, flat nipple sharply into her mouth. Teeth grazed him as his entire body trembled against her. Pleasure and pain mingled, becoming one as her name escaped his lips on an agonized plea.

_Mad. She will drive me mad in the end_, he thought, feeling desperate. The strong hands that reached for the headboard this time shook as he braced again. _Finally obedient._

_My God, I have become her slave_, Klaus realized with a smile. He wouldn't have it any other way, honestly.

The slick heat of her mouth engulfed him completely this time as a reward for his obedience. He writhed under her hands and in the haven of her mouth. The loving heat of it became the center of his universe. Without warning a savage roar rang out that made the windows in their bedroom rattle. Klaus' old, tattered heart chose that moment to try to explode in his chest.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Author's Note: Sorry so long since the last update. As you can see, I have been working. It's just been slow going. _**

**_-Elle_**

Chapter 14

Milla woke with a smile on her face. Her entire body felt wonderfully boneless. The night before with Klaus had gone on for hours. She rolled over slowly and found him sprawled naked and flat on his back. Lean sculpted arms and legs spanned in all directions over the top of the covers. His face was angled in her direction, eyes still closed as his chest moved rhythmically with his breathing. His expression was smooth of worry. Spread out as he was, he reminded her of an exhausted child that had collapsed after a busy day.

_She had finally managed to wear him out._ Her tender smile shifted to a wickedly satisfied grin.

She loved him so much it made her chest throb to look at him. Her fears of commitment were only a memory. Her smile faded a bit as she thought of the pain she'd caused him while she'd work through those fears. But he had been so kind and as patient as he could be while she did. Now she was more concerned about ever being parted from him than about how things might go wrong. Marriage and the future felt wide open with possibilities.

Since their engagement she found him watching her with an expression she could only describe as awe. She was feeling exactly the same thing right here, right now. Who he had been, the things he had done just didn't matter. They couldn't, because the past didn't define him and it never would. Someday, maybe, she'd manage to convince him of that simple truth.

Last night, lying in his arms, she'd remembered something that Naaman had said to him that left her with unanswered questions. Bolstering her courage, she broached the subject and watched the apprehension he always felt when the past came up grip him.

"Who was Celeste Broussard to you?" That was the name Naaman had given for the woman who had tried to kill her. Milla clearly remembered Klaus' tense reaction to the name.

Klaus was on his back and tipped his face up to the ceiling, closing his eyes. Milla knew by now that this was his confession face. When he admitted something to her that he dreaded her reaction to, he never looked at her until he was done.

"About a century ago I met a waitress in Louisiana. Her name was Adalene Broussard. She fascinated me for a while. I saw quite a lot of her. Eventually she knew what I was and wanted me to change her. I did not even hesitate." A hand came up over his eyes.

"She had an infant daughter she never mentioned. Her mother cared for the babe while Addy ran wild with me." He drew a long, shuddering breath.

Milla moved into the curve of his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. He seemed to relax a little as she did and his hand rested on her naked waist, his fingers tracing slow circles on her skin. When he didn't go on, she probed a bit.

"What happened to her?"

Her head rose and fell with the labored breath he drew and released before he went on.

"Some of us never make it out of the transition phase with our sanity. For Adelene, unfortunately, that proved to be the case. She promptly descended into madness. I stayed for a few weeks and ended up walking away. She was dangerously reckless. It made her a risk I was not prepared for." He shook his head, eyes still closed. "I heard some weeks later that she was caught by some townsfolk and killed." Another deep breath rattled in and out of him. "Her infant daughter's name was Celeste."

Milla reached an arm across his chest, thinking hard about what he'd said.

"So you changed her mother." She noted and he nodded slowly.

"Celeste must have gotten herself changed when she became an adult, intending revenge against me for her mother." He muttered, still with his eyes closed.

Milla remembered the wild-eyed red head. "I don't think she made it through the transition with her sanity either."

Another ragged breath from Klaus brought one word. "Exactly."

Milla pulled her arm around him, hugging him tight. "That's not your fault."

He turned swiftly and met her eyes. His were a dark blue, like a storm cloud. "How can you say that?"

"Because it's true. She chose to leave her daughter. You didn't even know." She reasoned, because he didn't appear to be able to when it came to this.

Those blue eyes moved over her as he seemed to consider that. "If I had known, it might not have changed anything."

"Maybe not. But Adalene knew, either way. And you're powerful and all, but as far as I know, you can't see the future. So how could you have ever predicted that she'd lose her marbles in the process of becoming a vampire? Seriously?"

His lips twitched to a small smile at her saucy tone. "No magic foresight. No. I certainly never saw _you_ coming."

Milla grinned, jabbing a finger playfully into a naked rib. "And that's where I've got you. I saw you coming a year before I met you. So there!"

He already knew about the dreams she'd been having about a red eyed wolf for a year before their paths crossed the night of her car wreck. They'd frightened her at the time because she'd never heard of such a thing. Weres have golden eyes. But not him. His wolf's eyes are red.

Klaus rolled her over him and onto his chest. His eyes had faded to a jeweled denim blue again.

"I will never deserve you." He muttered before he wrapped both arms around her and lowered his chin to the crown of her head.

She leaned up and met his eyes. "There's no deserving anything. My heart is freely given and completely yours."

That earned her a warm kiss that led back into their long night together. The same one that had exhausted him. He might be stronger than her and nine hundred years old, but she was nineteen and a wolf, with all the needs that implied. She had figured that surely he would wear out eventually. His current condition proved it.

Still wearing the satisfied grin he'd never see, Milla rose quietly and went to take a shower. She'd promised to have coffee with Elena this morning. Her godmother wanted every detail of their adventures and to hear about his proposal.

_Poor Klaus was going to need his rest, after all. _

Two hours later Elijah sank his shovel into the dirt. A tree was damaged by a storm the night before. He'd managed to haul away the tree and remove the root from the ground. Now he felt obligated to replace it with a sapling.

He heard her approach before he saw her. Milla was running, her blonde hair flying out behind her as she came, her strides stretched wide. He caught her with both hands as she reached him.

Her amber eyes were wide in alarm and she leaned forward at her waist to catch her breath.

"What's wrong?" He asked urgently.

"It's Elena. I left her in the living room." She was breathing deep with the exertion. "I think I broke her." She sputtered out finally, tears in her eyes.

"What does that mean?" Elijah had taken hold of her arm a little too firmly and forced himself to let her go, staring at his hand for a second. Milla didn't seem to notice.

"She's sort of laughing and crying at once. And can't seem to stop." Milla's tears finally overtook her, flowing down her smooth cheeks, her tone and expression filled with confused apology. "I was telling her about finding Klaus in the mountains and she just…" Milla shrugged. "She fell apart."

"Can you make your way back alone?" Elijah asked urgently.

Milla nodded. A half second later her hair flew in all directions as he disappeared.

Elijah found Elena just as Milla had described. She was sitting on the couch. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, sitting up, but in a fetal position. She was somehow laughing and crying at once. He slid into the space behind her and pulled her gently against his chest.

She tensed even more at his touch, but as he whispered to her she slowly came into his arms, still wavering between laughing and crying by turns. Her entire body was trembling.

"It's alright. It's all alright." He just kept saying it, unsure what it was she needed to hear.

After a while she started to relax and turned to fold both arms around his neck. Small arms drew tight like she was hanging on for dear life.

His hands were still covered in dirt from his work, but he ran them over her hair slowly anyway. He didn't speak anymore, he just held her. He couldn't force from her what she didn't want to share. So he waited, a calm, gentle harbor in her storm.

Finally, she spoke, addressing his shoulder.

"Did you know that Klaus left Milla a few months ago? He disappeared. To go away quietly to die. She went after him. Refused to let him go." She finished her statement on a pained gasp.

Elijah shook his head. No. He didn't know that, but it wasn't really a surprise. Considering the things those two had faced recently, it actually made perfect sense. He could see his brother was trying to keep Milla safe. Self-sacrificing. Textbook Klaus nowadays.

"I'm not as strong as you are. Or as brave." Her small body shuddered with a sob. "I tried to be. But I'm just not." The admission came with her pained gasp.

As much as he wanted to argue that, he waited. Gentle hands soothed her.

A shaky breath rattled out of her. "You said before that you followed me around when I was sixteen like a lovesick puppy, which I don't believe for a minute, by the way. But, if the roles had been reversed, if I had been the one who finally found you after waiting so long, I would've chased you around like a crazy person just trying to keep you alive."

"There was quite a lot of that, too, if you'll remember." He murmured, his smile in his voice. "You always did challenge me."

She turned to him and smiled. Then the tears came again.

"After losing so much, with you I found comfort in thinking you would never die on me. So, one time nearly losing you and my foundations crumbled." She turned her face again to his shoulder and sobbed.

Elijah understood she was talking about Bonnie's spell and the fact that he'd nearly starved rather than feed on a living human. That one conviction had nearly cost him his life.

"I can't…" She swallowed hard. "I don't know how you can be so strong. I keep thinking it's out there somewhere waiting for me…like some storm on the horizon I can't avoid. A future without you in it. _I'm afraid_. _All the time_. Of everything. Afraid if I move I'll somehow go without you."

"So you think I'm never afraid of losing you?" Elijah murmured the question near her ear and she grew still. After a breath, she turned to look up at him, searching his eyes.

"Every day, little one. Just like you." He reached gentle fingers to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, his eyes open to her, telling her everything he felt.

"But how? How do you face it? How do you beat it, then, so you can be so calm?" Her dark, wet eyes were wide with confusion.

"The answer for fear isn't courage or bravery, little one. It's hope. Without that, I'd have been a madman ages ago." Elijah admitted with a smile that was somehow sad.

"I don't understand." She could see he meant what he said, but it still didn't make sense to her.

"Before I found you, there was the hope that you were out there somewhere. After I found you, the hope that you'd be mine one day carried me on. Beyond that, I hang onto the hope that there's more joy ahead of us every day that we can embrace together. I do all I can to resist the urge to linger on what could go wrong, or where this will end. Eternal life illustrates that all things do. But I don't want to live the pain of it before I must. Fear does that. It drains away the good things, leaving us always anticipating more pain. Hope anticipates joy. And every day with you _is a joy_, even the ones that hurt."

The following evening Elena was out for a run alone, at long last. It felt like ages since she'd been so free. The world slid quickly past her as she went, a dizzying swirl of light and shadows. She had a destination in mind, but no schedule to keep.

Her feet slid to a halt on a small street. Her phone was buzzing in her back pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the screen.

Her friend was nothing, if not persistent. It made her smile, the sheer stubbornness of it.

She hit the button to accept the call and brought the phone to her ear.

Before anything could be said, Elena spoke. "I love you, Bon-Bon."

There was a choked gasp on the other end and silence broken up by what sounded like soft sobs.

"I am _so sorry_, Elena." The words were high and garbled when Bonnie finally spoke, but Elena understood anyway.

"I forgive you. But I'm sorry too. And I love you. I never stopped. I never will." Elena's tears were wetting her hand and the phone now too.

Elena took the final steps and reached her destination while she just listened to Bonnie cry.

"If you'll open your door, I'd like to hug you. But if you don't want to, I understand." Elena whispered the words, unsure if Bonnie would be able to hear. Rather than answer, the door was snatched open and there Bonnie was, tear streaked and smiling.

"I was already on my way over here when you called." Elena said with a smile when Bonnie slipped into her arms.

Better days were ahead of them, starting with this one. Elena could be a friend again. She could forgive again. Because her wise and wonderful husband had reminded her about the unyielding power of hope.

A few days later Klaus sat along the stonewall edging that wrapped around the entrance to the Salvatore Boarding House. He tipped his face up to the sky enjoying the crisp night air and the distant sparkle of the stars. There was a low murmur of festivity just behind him. Damon and Stefan had volunteered to throw an engagement party for Klaus and Milla.

He was suspicious at first, knowing neither of them were fond of him. But their love for Milla seemed to balance it out. It was a wonderful evening that showed no signs of slowing down. He had just needed a breath of fresh air and had quietly slipped away.

Distant steps rang out, coming up the drive at a fast pace and turning the corner.

Caroline. She was a sales representative for Elena's company now and travelled the world on a daily basis. He honestly never dreamed that she would come. She wore a light pink skirt that hung close to her legs and a jacket to match. Somehow she was both professional and feminine at once, her golden hair laying in soft waves around a lovely face that was lit by a warm smile.

That smile fell flat when she saw him. He expected no less.

She drew a little closer and he nodded solemnly without standing in greeting.

"Caroline. What a nice surprise." He purposely kept his tone cool and distant.

Her eyes flashed over him and her mouth compressed to a tight line.

"Klaus." She nodded, using the same distant tone and seemed to move as if she would pass him before she stopped in her tracks and circled back.

She cleared her throat uncomfortably and wrung her hands for a moment. A habit of hers. If he ever wondered what Caroline was thinking, he knew to look to her hands.

He didn't look up, keeping his gaze on the concrete drive below his feet.

"Seems you have something to say." One of his brows rose while he waited.

She fidgeted for another moment and sat down on the wall a couple of feet away. Always direct, she had turned to face him.

"I do, actually." He saw those hands of hers wring again out of the corner of his eye.

"You should know that, with most of us never having children, we all sort of adopted Milla." She began after a deep breath.

Klaus turned to face her at that. He'd been expecting a berating. It seemed she had something more important to say.

"She was _so_ tiny, had been _so_ sick for _so_ long. And she lost her mother. We…we all watched her grow up. Birthdays. Holidays. Vacations. She became an important part of all of us." Her bluish green eyes met his solemnly.

He nodded slowly, listening closely.

"We _all _love her, Klaus. I want you to grasp what you're being entrusted with." Her eyes became hard with her words. Caroline clearly didn't approve.

And he couldn't blame her. Not a bit. The loving protection of these people for Milla was a comfort to him, honestly. He knew that she would have a long list of people to offer her support, safety and love if, for some unknown reason, he was unable to be there for her.

He shifted to face her, draping a folded knee over the wall as he turned, his posture open.

"I do understand, Caroline. But there is something I should say before you go on." He swallowed hard as his throat worked and forced himself to meet her eyes. "There will never be enough ways to tell you how very sorry I am for what came before. How I hurt you and the people you love. I will carry the regret for the damage I did every day. But you should know that I do. Regret."

Caroline's jaw went slack and her eyes widened. Slim shoulders relaxed sharply as she drew in an abrupt breath. He could see now she was braced for a confrontation with him, expecting an argument at the least.

"I…." Her voice trailed off. "Well…. I thought….." Wide eyes moved over his face with almost comical disbelief.

"Elena said you were different. I just thought she was being kind." She muttered, looking to the ground. Her brows furrowed when she looked up again.

"_You're really not the person I knew before, are you?"_ The question was a tight whisper.

He shook his head slowly. "The same memories, now filtered through a conscience and a heart." He laid a hand over hers carefully.

"And I am so very sorry. I tried to kill you, destroyed your relationships, badgered you, and belittled you." He shook his head again, choking out the last words.

He'd believed at the time he loved Caroline. He could see now it was about being rejected. He'd seen a challenge, a commodity, rather than a person. The driving force inside him was about taking, rather than giving…something he knew now was key to truly loving someone. It was a lesson Milla had taught him well.

Her eyes filled and he pulled his hand away quickly. The last thing he'd meant to do was upset her, even now.

She reached and took the hand he'd pulled away.

"No. It's okay. All of us have done things we had to take back. Those things are over and done now." She fluttered a hand at her tear-filled eyes. "This is about….. I just can't tell you how relieved I am. I was so _worried_ about her." Caroline smiled at him. It was warm and honest. Klaus felt his chest expand with relief at her earnestness.

"But I don't have to worry, do I?" Her warm smile grew as she leaned back, releasing his hand.

"I would sooner tear my own heart out than cause her pain." He put a hand over his chest as he spoke, making it a vow.

Caroline's smile shifted to a wicked grin. "If you hurt her, you'd get a long list of volunteers to help you with that."

Klaus laughed, long and loud, appreciating that truth. Caroline laughed with him.

Footsteps from inside came closer, following the sound of their laughter. Milla stood near the door.

"Caroline? Is that _really you_?" The familiar tip-tap of Milla's heels punctuated the question and Caroline stood quickly.

"Get over here, Sweetpea! You didn't think I would miss this, did you?" Caroline threw her arms wide and Milla rushed into them like an eager child.

Klaus smiled, watching the two of them gush and hug. They both spoke so excitedly and at such a high pitch he couldn't interpret much of it. When they grew quiet, both wiping away happy tears, Milla turned to him.

"I'm guessing you two already know each other." Milla's tone sounded cautious as her gaze moved slowly between the two of them.

Caroline laughed again. "Of course! Klaus and I are old friends."

Milla grinned, relief lighting her golden eyes and Klaus' smile widened at Caroline's generosity.

An hour later Damon stood leaned against a door frame in the great room at the Boarding House, a glass of bourbon in his hand listening intently to Klaus stoically thank him for the engagement party they were all enjoying. Every word, every expression Klaus flashed told Damon clearly and concisely how much the other man despised him and that being forced to thank him for _anything…ever…_ was causing him great pain.

Damon felt sure he couldn't be blamed for his grin widening by degrees as Klaus spoke. Listening only to their words, this would've seemed a very civilized conversation. Damon's heart and Klaus' eyes both said otherwise.

This was why Damon had jumped at the chance to throw the party in the first place. Well…and to please Milla…. of course.

He'd never liked children. They were small, wiggly, dirty little creatures with too much potentially draining from, well, everywhere. Damon had spent the largest part of two centuries avoiding them successfully. Until her.

He didn't have a clear explanation for how Milla had gotten under his skin at nine or ten years old. But she had. And she'd been well past the age of draining or spewing by the time he met her the first time. She'd been a small, mousy little thing with pained eyes….and Damon had come to love her. Just remembering that little girl with the greying skin, sick with some disease with a long name she'd proudly pronounced, some sort of leukemia, made his chest ache. Years of playing games with her like Exploding Lawn Gnome seemed to have passed in a fiery flash.

Now she was a beauty with a big heart. And she was marrying Klaus. He wanted to shake his head again mournfully, just at the thought. He knew he sounded like a disappointed father, but he had hoped _for so much more_. So he kept the thought to himself.

Just then the beautiful girl in question appeared behind Klaus and laid a small hand on his elbow without speaking.

Damon couldn't help but notice the change in Klaus' expression as she did. Klaus didn't turn or smile, but Damon saw a warmth sweep across his face…just at the touch of her hand. The hard expression he had worn only a breath ago was gone. Damon watched him slowly turn and meet Milla's eyes. Still there was no smile from Klaus, but the love that pulsed between them was clear, even to him.

He wavered for a second between wandering away and suggesting they get a room. Deciding discretion really was the better part of valor, Damon sidled away and grinned to himself when neither of them noticed.

Maybe he could let go of some of his concerns for her wellbeing after all.

He smiled as he looked around his home at his friends and extended family as they celebrated this union between Klaus and Milla that most of them felt uncertain of. But not quite everyone was here yet. Damon had taken a chance, hosting this in his home. He'd hoped that it would be enough, but _she_ still wasn't here.

His lips twitched as he caught a familiar scent and wandered into the foyer. His arms stretched wide as Elena stepped into them. Bonnie stepped through the door behind her and Elena reached to take her hand.

Damon let out a whoop of joy and pulled both of them close in a hug.

"Finally, we have peace." Elena and Bonnie were laughing and Damon was overwhelmed with gratitude for whatever or whoever had worked this miracle that had his two best friends together again.

Klaus was caught in the shimmer of Milla's eyes. He couldn't help but think of how he'd felt only a few months ago, as if he was the only one invested in them…the only one walking around with his heart on his sleeve. Now, that expression she wore. _He felt sure he could live and die in that look._ Naked yearning. Milla didn't hide anymore. All she felt was right there in her eyes…the ones turned on him. This woman, his woman, that would be his wife, was looking at him with openly needful desire. His chest expanded with joy and his body responded.

He moved closer, pulling her hard to his chest.

She tipped her head back and ran a hand along his jaw before it went around to grasp the back of his neck, making his skin tingle.

"What is that look for?" He growled next to her ear.

"You look good tonight." She pressed her lips to his cheek and leaned toward his ear to whisper. "Good enough that I'd like to do things to you right now that are technically still illegal in seven states."

He laughed, moving her closer and looking around to see if anyone had heard them, considering the company they kept.

"Since when have you become an expert on lewdness and lasciviousness laws?" He whispered with a smile.

"Since you." She wiggled closer into his arms purposely, making him gasp.

He smiled into her hair and wrapped both arms around her.

"You will have to dance with me now." He told her.

Milla giggled, looking around them. "But there's not any music. And no one else is dancing."

"How else do you suggest we manage to get out of this room without _this_ being noticed?" He ground his hips against her pointedly and she gave a small husky chuckle. "Your fault, darling." He leaned back to tell her with a smile. "You see what you do to me? With only a look and a word?"

Not waiting for permission anymore, he began to sway with her to the music in his head. After only a couple of steps, she joined him. The two of them moved as one slowly across the floor. Klaus had always been a skilled dancer, but he'd never had a better partner and he felt it all the way to his bones. The passion in their steps spoke for them both.

After a few minutes, slow, sweet music filled the room to suit their rhythm. A few minutes more and everyone had taken a partner. Neyla, who had spent the evening quietly talking with Stefan by the fire, now moved slowly across the floor dancing with him. Elena and Elijah took their place, not to be outdone. Bonnie and Damon swayed and laughed together. Caroline and Milla's father Jack danced and talked. John and his wife Stephanie also tucked together to join the dancing as the song shifted to something equally as slow and sweet. Only Jeremy and his wife Suzette were absent from the party, at home together because she was feeling unwell as she was carrying their first child.

Klaus couldn't help but be grateful for all of them. Everyone they both loved was here, in this moment, celebrating with them. It was perfect. Everything was just as it should be.

As the thought occurred to him, a prickle of something uncomfortable whispered over him. Caroline had arrived last, rounding out Milla's joy. All of them together…celebrating. Klaus stopped abruptly in his tracks as Naaman's words rang in his mind. _I will come for all you value_._….over your shoulder. Make you wish for death._

"What's wrong?" Milla asked near his ear.

A chill ran up his spine. _At his most vile, if he were Naaman, he would strike now_.

"We have to get out of here. Everyone has to get out of here." He muttered urgently, looking around. Milla's eyes were wide when they met his.

"I don't…" She muttered as her eyes narrowed in concern.

"Just trust me." He interrupted her grimly.

"John just went to the kitchen, for ice I think. I'll get him." Milla told him and headed that way at a run.

"Meet us on the front lawn." Klaus told her before he let out a bellow for everyone to vacate.

With his words, and their urgency, people started swiftly disappearing. Neyla looked around, confused and Klaus wrapped his arms around her, lifting her bodily to carry her out at top speed. They reached the foyer when the first concussive wave of the explosion threw them both to the polished floor.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Neyla's very dark brown eyes shifted color as they struck the floor, beginning to glow an electric blue. A pulsing glow surrounded them both. It hummed and sizzled with power. With the next concussive wave of the explosion, only a half second after the first, the floor beneath them gave way and the ground shook as a wall of fire filled the space. Klaus and Neyla remained safely where they were, suspended and cocooned in a blue ball of lightning.

When the blazing stopped, Klaus found that blocks and downed walls had filled in the open space the floor left when it fell away. None of it reached either he or Neyla.

"Lightning?" He asked her with a little smile over the roar of the fire around them.

"You _do_ only hire the best." She grinned.

The debris had started to settle around the edges of the lightning. Klaus braced against, well, nothing as they began to lift up out of the rubble. Neyla's electrical field became substantial enough, on the outer rim, to move anything that might be in their way, out of it. They soared up and out, the blue light stark against the night sky, backlit by the blaze that continued to ravage what had once been the Salvatore Boardinghouse.

Klaus had only one thought. _Milla. _He'd watched her run toward the kitchen, to the back of the house to fetch John before the blast.

Meanwhile, Milla tried to stand . John was under her and both of them were caught beneath most of a wall. Together, she and John had gotten as far as opening the back door when they were both thrown forward. Instinctively her arms had spread wide, covering John as best she could. She figured she could take a blast. He probably couldn't.

After a little scrabbling, she got legs under her and lifted up with her back bent, taking most of a fallen wall off of them both as she rose. John groaned and rolled over, turning to face her as smaller stones and rubble fell around him.

Green eyes opened slowly and he let out a low gasp.

Milla tried to tell him he was going to be okay. It came out as a high-pitched whine. She'd shifted without even knowing it.

John was on the ground, lying between the front legs of her seven feet tall wolf, looking up at her, his green eyes stretched wide like saucers. Without a voice, but still hoping to comfort him, Milla leaned down and drug her long tongue along the side of his face. His surprised face faded to a smile accompanied by a quiet chuckle.

No horror. No fear. Just some ragged surprise, followed closely by humor. No wonder she liked John so much. She thought about licking his face one more time, for good measure, when she noticed their surroundings.

The rubble around them was black and steaming. There had been some powerful heat as they fell. That would explain her shift, the wolf stepping up to take the brunt of the damage. She turned to look at herself and found that smoke was rising from her furred back. It was then that she saw what was left of the damaged structure. There wasn't much. The massive house that had been the Salvatore home had lost it's entire eastern wing, that included the kitchens, common rooms, entryway and at least half of the bedrooms that had been upstairs.

_Where is everyone?_ She thought, beginning to feel alarm for the first time when she heard Klaus roaring her name. He came storming around the side of the house into the backyard where they were standing.

She met him, still on four legs. Klaus wrapped both arms around her furred chest in relief while she shifted against him. Half a dozen of the others were following close behind and stepping around debris as they came.

Stephanie moved carefully around some broken bricks and into John's waiting arms. Black dust had covered her face and streaks of it had washed away in her tears.

"You shifted." Klaus said, pulling her close and wrapping his suit coat around her.

"I didn't mean to. I threw myself over him when the first wave hit. By the second, the wolf came out. I probably scared poor John half to death." She muttered against him, still held tight in an embrace.

Klaus leaned back, looking down at her. "So you basically laid yourself out on an altar of fire for your friend?"

She lifted a thin shoulder and dropped it eloquently. "I knew I could take it. I wasn't sure he could." He pulled her tighter against him, until she thought her ribs might snap under the pressure.

Through the vibration of his chest she felt him say, "Nine hundred years and there has only been one of you. And yet you are determined to get yourself killed." It was the deep voice of frustrated acceptance.

He loved her enough to not to try to change her. _Her sweet, wonderful man._

"How did you know?" Milla asked Klaus while they looked around together at the blazing wreck that had been Damon and Stefan's home.

He looked shamefaced as he answered her. "It is what I would have done. Struck in the midst of joy, when everyone had gathered."

Milla turned to look around them at the group that had gathered and froze. "Where's my dad?" She asked Klaus first and, at his blank expression, her voice rose, asking the question again. Everyone wore the same baffled look and Milla's heart started to pound.

Stephanie spoke up, her voice high and frightened. "He was right behind me, pushing me outside. But I haven't seen him since."

Milla broke into a run around the front of the house, past the rubble, dashing through the blazing piles of broken wood with her heart in her throat. Klaus came behind her and together they started sifting through debris, Milla with her face tipped to the wind trying to pinpoint her father's scent.

They found him together. A collapsed part of what had been the roof had crushed most of his chest. Klaus lifted the beams off him with one hand, but they were too late. Jack's face was white, his eyes closed. His lips had turned upward, permanently, to a peaceful smile.

The heart that had been racing in her chest seized and felt like it might never beat again. Milla sank to her knees beside him, laying a gentle hand against his cooling cheek.

"Oh, Daddy. Nooooo!" Milla gasped the cry through hot tears that blinded her.

Twenty-four hours later Klaus held Milla up with one arm as they stood, watching the funeral pyre burn hot in the field behind their home. She had both arms wrapped around him and a steady stream of tears coursed down her cheeks. Everyone they both loved had come to honor Jack and stood watching the crackling blaze rise high into the night sky.

He expected rage, for Milla to shift and run the way she had when she'd killed her mother's murder. But she was quiet after that cry when they'd found Jack's broken body in the remnants of the Salvatore home.

Her silence concerned him most. She had withdrawn into herself, hardly speaking, except to voice what her father would have wanted by way of a funeral. Milla informed him quietly that the funeral pyre was the Were way, and his ashes should be scattered to the four winds, returning him to the earth and the air he had loved so much. The words were spoken quietly through streaming tears.

Blame was never mentioned by anyone, but Klaus felt its weight just the same. His actions, his history had brought this Naaman into their lives. There was no doubt that Naaman was the one responsible for the devastation that had been wrought when Milla and Klaus should have been celebrating.

While others prepared, Klaus returned to the wreckage of the boarding house and retrieved Milla's jewelry. He found her ring where she shifted while protecting John from the fire. The band of her engagement ring had a weak spot so that it would open easily if she shifted, rather than break. The jeweler he had commissioned to make it had repaired it easily while he waited. And Klaus paid the man enough that he didn't ask uncomfortable questions.

Hours later he held her. Milla fell asleep in his arms and drew tight, even her dreams bringing sobs that rocked her body. He lay awake for hours, running a slow, soothing hand over her hair until she became still and quiet again. Klaus wished for a way to bear this for her, to take this pain on himself. But, he also knew that no matter how he wished for it, he'd never be able to soothe this away for her. Her father was dead and he was to blame.

The following morning, with the first blade of sunlight cast through the window, he woke to an empty bed. Milla was gone. He searched for her downstairs and stepped outside to find her car gone. Deciding to call her, he heard her phone ring in their bedroom. She'd left it on her dresser, along with her engagement ring.

Klaus sank to the foot of their bed like he'd been struck, all strength leaving him. The yellow diamond winked up at him coldly from the dark, polished surface of her dresser. A hand had wandered uselessly to his chest, trying to ease the pain there.

He was to blame for all of this. He knew it. Milla knew it too.

Three days of stillness and silence had passed when a strange sound filled their quiet room. Klaus looked around, working to understand. Finally, he opened a drawer and pulled out his cellphone. The damned thing was ringing. It was Elijah.

Klaus hit the button to accept the call and said nothing.

"Is Milla with you, Klaus?" His brother's deep voice asked without greeting. Klaus recognized the tone. Whatever had caused him to call, Elijah was troubled.

"No." Klaus' voice was creaky from lack of use.

"I have people who keep track of police reports that might point in our "direction". Something happened a few miles from here. The police are suggesting an "animal attack". And there's not a full moon." Elijah was quietly asking if it could be Milla.

Klaus said only, "Where?"

Half an hour later he approached the yellow police barrier slowly, taking in the scene. The small ramshackle single-wide trailer sat at the edge of an abandoned field, backed by forest. Police officers milled around, stepping carefully over pooled blood on the ground. A large amount of blood also adorned the faded aluminum siding that lined the trailer. The result reminded him of a gruesome Jackson Pollock painting.

One policeman was filling a man in a grey suit in on the summary of the scene. They were several hundred yards away, speaking quietly while onlookers stayed behind the plastic yellow barrier. Klaus didn't have to make much effort to hear what was being said.

"Looks like this Jackson Howell was working part time as a terrorist or something. There's evidence of enough C four to take down the Chrysler building in there." One muttered to the other.

"And where is he?"

"All over." The officer spread his arms wide. "But no actual remains. Not anymore, anyway. We got the call around four am that there was a body here. By the time we found the place, the sun had come up and there was just blood and this weird dust." The officer gestured at the ground and a heaping pile of the stuff.

"So…what are we thinking, with the doorframe torn up like that? Animal attack?"

"That's what we've been saying but…um….there's one problem with that theory. That door was ripped apart _from the inside_. Something roughly the size and strength of a grizzly bear _came out _that door_. _Then it looks like it went about shredding this poor bastard like confetti." The uniformed officer shrugged.

"And we don't have grizzlies in Virginia, Duke." The man in the suit grumbled, running a hand over his balding head.

"That's why they pay you the big bucks, sir."

Klaus knew exactly what had done this. The fact that they found explosives gave him pause. He had his suspicions about what was happening here, but he had to be sure.

Klaus did distantly recall a vampire named Jackson who worked as a bartender at a place he had taken Milla to once or twice. He preferred small, quiet drinking holes rather than the metropolitan places he would have frequented years ago. And he tended to gravitate toward places where his own kind were, simply out of habit.

Klaus' eyes moved over the scene one last time. The sheer volume of blood dousing the ground from inside the trailer across the front yard spoke volumes. She'd not just killed him. This was an absolute slaughter. One with roots in animal fury.

Her pained voice echoed in his head as she executed her former pack's leader for murdering her mother and injuring her father. _Blood for blood, you son of a bitch. _

Again, in search of truth, Klaus found his way back to the small bar where he knew Jackson Howell worked. Asking pointed questions found a human waitress named Eileen who worked with Howell the night before. Eileen wasn't yet aware that he was dead, and would be the last human who had seen him alive. Klaus was faintly surprised to find that no police had been here yet.

Sitting in a quiet corner booth, he lured Eileen in with a one hundred dollar bill and the offer to buy her a drink. Pushing past the barriers of her will, he compelled her quietly and asked about the night before, what she had seen.

Eileen evidently didn't like Milla much, with designs of her own on the bartender.

She rolled her eyes, even under compulsion, with the questions about a blonde from the night before.

"She was all over him." The busty red head muttered.

"That girl spent hours sitting at the bar, talking him up. It was pitiful. But Jackson ate it up." Another eye roll, outlined with too much make up followed the angry admission.

"When it got late, with hardly anyone else here on a Tuesday night, she turned on the jukebox and asked him to dance. Tight black dress, legs for days. He wasn't gonna say no." Eileen's upper lip curled with undisguised contempt.

"That's when she was all over him, like a bitch in heat." The description made Klaus' back teeth grind together, but he waited.

"They left together five minutes before his shift ended. He asked me to lock up with a big smile. Said he was gonna get lucky and strutted out of here like he'd just won the lottery." The words made Klaus' blood boil. But the details also had a similar effect on Eileen. An angry tide of color had gathered over her cheekbones and her eyes snapped with it.

Klaus compelled her to forget him and the blonde girl whose name she'd never heard. This night so far and the night before had both been normal and mundane with no changes or surprises.

The police would come and have questions. The tide of jealousy Klaus felt, he already knew was misplaced. He could see that Milla had lured Jackson Howell away from his work with the precision of a surgeon, intending to kill him. Klaus was just unsure of her reasons. Wiping away the waitress' memories would protect her from being tracked by the authorities. Because Klaus was going to be tracking her himself.

He hoped, in the days after her disappearance, that she'd change her mind and return to him. That hope had faded. He believed that her feelings for him were destroyed along with the Salvatore's home and her father's life. More damage he had not intended came along with him. He couldn't even ask her for forgiveness for such a thing. He knew with certainty the depth of her love for her father. Although he hadn't actually killed Jack with his own hands, he might as well have. His throat closed with the painful thought.

Jack was a good man. One Klaus admired and respected.

Before he'd even convinced Milla to move in with him, he'd approached Jack privately to ask for her hand.

Her father had laughed, his deep, throaty chuckle. He was sitting on one of the rocking chairs that still sat on the front porch of the cabin they were using. He lived in the same cabin Klaus had used when he and Milla had started this thing between them.

When he'd stopped laughing, seeing that Klaus was serious, he studied Klaus closely for a minute.

"I can see you are what she thinks you are." Jack leaned back in his chair, his eyes trailing idly over the landscaping. "But I also know a bit about your history. That makes me nervous for my little girl." Jack's eyes moved over Klaus again and he found himself shifting uncertainly.

"But she loves you. Milla doesn't do anything half way." Jack folded his hands together and smiled, finally. "If she is happy, I am happy. Of course you have my blessing. But after what she's seen of my marriage, I don't think I'm the one you'll have trouble convincing."

Klaus had to shake himself hard from his memories. Jack was gone. A good man was dead because of him. It was something he couldn't change. But he could, hopefully, stop Milla's wolf from wreaking havoc; the kind that would become a weight of regret she was too young, too good and too innocent to have to bear for years to come.

She might have discarded her love for him. But his feelings were unchanged. His love for her drove him to take action.

A few hours after finding Milla's crime scene Klaus found himself sitting at an oak dining room table trying not to look as uncomfortable as he felt. Elijah's suggestion for how to track Milla led him to Jeremy Gilbert's door. Thankfully, Elena's brother wasn't home. It was his wife that Klaus needed anyway.

Suzette, according to Elijah, was skilled in tracking via electronic means. When he explained quickly at the door why he had come, she smiled warmly and invited him in. That was his first surprise. They'd never actually spoken and the last thing he expected was welcome. Jeremy wasn't exactly his biggest fan, even now.

She was a small woman with knowing green eyes. After making him a drink, she disappeared and reappeared quickly with a laptop that she opened on her kitchen table and started tapping away furiously at. The silence left Klaus to look around at their provincial home and wonder what to do with himself.

After a few minutes, she leaned back, looking satisfied and stretched broadly. He watched her with questions in his eyes. He had no idea how she could possibly find Milla with a computer, but he was desperate. He also had no clue where Milla would go next, or how to stop her.

"I'm running some searches." She smiled. Her dark, very long curly hair moved around her as she nodded at him. "Now we wait."

"I appreciate your help." Klaus told her, wishing desperately for something to do. Sitting still was wearing on him and waiting wasn't his strong suit either.

She seemed to understand his discomfort. Her eyes grew warm as she spoke again. "This will be okay, you know."

Klaus swallowed and pasted a false smile on his lips. He didn't believe that. Not really. But he appreciated the sentiment and her kindness. That was his next surprise during the visit. "Thank you." He told her hollowly.

She leaned forward, resting an elbow on the table and propping her chin in it. Those penetrating eyes of hers swept over him slowly.

"I've been looking forward to talking with you, one on one, for a long time." Suzette told him with a smile.

Klaus met her gaze and said what he was thinking. "Why?"

He'd seen her many times, mostly at Elijah's house, during holidays. She always seemed quiet and a bit uncomfortable. She wasn't now. She seemed to be in her element. Animated and warm.

Her small innocent smile became a wicked grin. "I've heard all the stories." She shrugged. "Had a rebellious streak all my life. Getting to know the "big bad" seemed like the thing to do. Did you know they used to say your name with hushed tones? Like you'd appear if they said it too loud in a cloud of sulfur. Like you were the devil or something." Her grin became a quiet chuckle.

Klaus grimaced, looking away. "I cannot actually disagree with the sentiment. So, now that you have done this, one on one, are you afraid?"

Suzette leaned back in her chair and stretched again, running a hand over a small swell at her belly as she did. Klaus already knew that she was expecting a child, because it was mentioned at the engagement party that she was absent from because she'd been ill.

"Not afraid. Not at all." She chuckled a little to herself. "I've seen how Milla's eyes go all soft when she talks about you. It would be hard for you to come back from that and recover the hard image."

He turned and studied her face, considering what she'd said. She seemed sincere.

"I know something awful happened. And we'll all miss Jack. But Milla loves you. _Loves_ you." She reached a hand across the table and squeezed one of his that was lying there. "I'm telling you this will be okay."

"Thank you." He told her, and meant it this time.

Suzette's first set of searches found no trace of Milla by traffic cams, police reports or credit card activity. Klaus watched a determined glint grow in her eyes as she ran more searches.

After a few more minutes of furious tapping, Suzette made a satisfied sound and Klaus' eyes snapped to her face.

"Well, it's not her, exactly…." She hedged for a minute before she went on. "but it looks like this dead guy, Howell, bought gas in Arkansas. About four hours ago."

Klaus immediately understood where she was going with that.

"You think Milla stole his credit cards." A sharp nod from Suzette confirmed it.

"Where exactly in Arkansas?" He asked quietly, seeing a path to action he'd lacked before.

With the location, Klaus was up and headed for the door before he stopped in his tracks. He turned back to Suzette, who was still looking pleased with herself, sitting at the kitchen table.

"How far along are you?" He asked her gently.

"Only a few weeks. We have our first doctor's appointment next week."

"You do not know yet, then, do you?" Despite the mess he was inside, his smile grew. It felt good to have something to offer in recompense for Suzette's help.

"Know…?"

"I hear two heartbeats."

Her hands flew to her abdomen, her mouth hanging open in wonder.

"You can _hear_ that?" She gasped at him and he nodded with a smile.

"I can. Two very small, very fast heartbeats, along with yours."

She was smiling as her eyes filled with a mist of tears. "Twins. We've been trying for so long. Oh, my god."

"Hopefully that will make your sickness feel worth it." He grimaced with sympathy for her, knowing a bit about what pregnant women could go through. He also knew that bearing two at once could amplify the effects.

"In my book, you just blasted your "big bad" image out of the water." She told him with a huge smile.

"I can live with that." He grinned back.

"Thank you."

"And thank you." He called back as he stepped out into the night.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Niklaus reached Arkansas at top speed, but it wasn't fast enough. A call from Suzette brought him to another crime scene, this one lit by the strobing blue flash of police lights. Suzette had been monitoring police reports in the area and thought this had Milla written all over it.

He approached the abandoned train yard slowly. Old train tracks ripped from the ground looked like a spiraling swirl of rusted metal. Two railway cars were turned on their sides and bent; the metal rippled like it had been compressed by an angry fist.

In the middle was a body. A woman this time. Klaus moved quickly while no one was watching and got closer for a look. A middle-aged woman with streaked gray hair, her throat torn out, laying in a pool of her own blood. There were bites at both of her hands, along the wrist, deep enough to have rendered them useless. The bite pattern was huge. Klaus drew in her scent. The dead woman was human. And Milla's scent was all over her.

Klaus moved away, stepping deftly behind cover to listen in as police reviewed what they found.

"Izmelda Moore. She owns an old knick-knack shop just around the corner." A female officer told a male one, handing over the contents of the woman's purse. "Looks like she was walking home from work. She lives just half a mile from here."

"Knick-knacks? What does that mean exactly?" The male officer asked, examining the dead woman's ID.

"You know. Antiquities. Old books. Herbs. Potions. That sort of thing."

"Any witnesses?"

"Not so far. Which is surprising. It looks like all hell broke loose here. What in the world pulls up train tracks and ties them in a knot?"

Klaus was shaking his head as he walked away. Milla had taken out a witch this time. That was the only explanation for the turmoil left at the scene. The witch had evidently staged an impressive defense, but lost her life anyway. What he didn't understand was _why this one witch, in this tiny nowhere town?_

A few hours later, after another call from Suzette, Klaus found himself standing outside a nightclub in the same small Arkansas town talking quietly with a couple of bouncers. Each was holding a fifty-dollar bill and eagerly supplying details about a beautiful blonde woman who had lured their co-worker away. No compulsion was necessary here.

"Man, if a babe like that crooked her finger at _me_," The tall blonde bouncer shook his head, smiling, "I would have walked away from my shift too. Screw this job."

Another body, this one ripped to shreds, had been found outside an apartment complex in a small wooded area brought Milla's count to three. Again, the police were blaming an animal attack….in the middle of town. This time it was a local bouncer named Maddox Kirk. Klaus found that the bouncer's blood scent was distinctly Were-ish when Klaus explored the crime scene after the fact. Again, Milla's scent was everywhere.

Where would Milla's massacre would take her now?

Suzette diligently ran more searches, using the information of each of Milla's victims. Four hours later, now at least ten hours behind Milla, Suzette got a hit on Izmelda Moore's credit card a few miles outside San Antonio, Texas. He made tracks for Texas, waiting impatiently for some sign of her for three days. He stalked the streets, bars, restaurants, and hotels searching for her scent in the wind. But she was nowhere.

He finally got a trace on her when two more bodies were found. Two businessmen were found separately in their homes. When Klaus wandered through each of the crime scenes after the fact, Milla's scent was there, along with a scent in one that made Klaus aware that he had been a vampire and the other appeared to have been a practicing witch. How they related to Naaman was still a mystery to him, but he could see a pattern.

A call from Suzette gave him the last piece of the puzzle.

"The witch from Arkansas….she's booked a room at the nicest hotel in New Orleans for tomorrow." Suzette told him after brief greetings.

He stopped short at this news. _New Orleans. Again._ _Damn it._

"I think I know where she's going this time." Klaus muttered into his phone grimly.

A day later Klaus stood outside the bustling bar that sat exactly in the center of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Very little had actually changed about it in nearly a hundred years. Even the name was the same. Only the sign was new. It now depicted a dagger, pointed down, it's tip covered in blood with a single drip hovering below it. The image looked suspiciously like a vampire's fang. The Dagger's Tip, it read.

He stepped in and felt the weight of many eyes on him. The music was high and loud, people drinking and bustling around. Regardless, he felt a distinct hesitation in the atmosphere. Like a collective baited breath.

Klaus said only one word; leaning on old habits. It came out as a quiet command.

"Out."

In a blink, the bartender behind the bar disappeared. After that, others quickly followed in waves until the place was deserted. The entire effort took less than a minute. Klaus' reputation usually preceded him among his own kind.

The only one unaffected was Aristide, who sat in a dark corner, watching the show.

Aristide was a couple of centuries old, at least. A Frenchman who migrated to New Orleans somewhere around the turn of the last century. He was tall and very lean with dark hair pulled back with a black leather cord at the nape of his neck. The dark beard he wore was his one vanity. It was thin and trimmed to a razor's edge over gaunt cheeks and a sharp, squared jaw line.

"You, my friend, have just cost me a night's take." Aristide slurred, his accent thick. Another thing about him that was evidently unchanged. He was always at least slightly intoxicated.

"You always were an expensive friend to keep." The Frenchman finished his thought as he drug a finger along the rim of his glass of red wine. Aristide was the sole proprietor of the place and evidently resented the loss of customers for the night.

Klaus smiled and spread his hands wide beside him. "This is how you greet an old friend?"

Aristide's only answer was the slow rise of one brow. Klaus crossed the room slowly, his boot steps echoing in the now quiet and empty bar. Sliding into the booth across from the dark haired vampire, Klaus leaned back and crossed his arms.

"I have come with happy news." Klaus studied a face he hadn't seen in nearly a hundred years. He had purposely avoided this city for a very long time. He would have avoided it longer if it were possible.

Aristide raised a dark brow, gray eyes moving over Klaus' face. Klaus caught the flicker of surprise in their depths. He had already noticed the sharp stake wedged between Aristide's hip and the wall. He was also well aware of the pistol that was mounted under the table. Aristide calling Klaus "friend" was an exaggeration at best. Klaus smiled as he thought of how Milla would have called them _frenemies_.

Since the other man appeared to be waiting, Klaus explained himself without flourish. "I am getting married."

The look in Aristide's eyes confirmed Klaus' suspicions. The jolt of surprise his old friend was trying to cover could mean only one thing. Aristide was under the impression that everyone Niklaus loved would be dead by now.

_I am definitely in the right place_, Klaus thought.

Aristide somehow managed to muster a warm laugh and a smile. "Congratulations Nik!"

Klaus leaned forward, meeting grey eyes across the table. With a hard push, he moved easily past the wall of the other vampire's will. It wasn't something he liked doing, but desperate times did indeed call for desperate measures.

"Tell the truth, my friend." His voice was thick with sarcasm this time at the label.

Aristide's eyes went wide, losing focus under the power of Klaus' compulsion. Only his family, and now Elena, were able to do this to other vampires. This was a large part of why they all feared them. It made his stomach clench to use this particular gift against another of his kind, where he would've done this without a flicker of conscience before.

"You helped someone named Naaman in his effort to do me damage. Did you not?" He asked, maintaining eye contact.

Aristide nodded, his gray eyes still wide and unfocused. "Some referrals, suggestions for those who might be useful."

"And what names did you give him?"

Half an hour later Klaus was standing behind the bar washing blood from his hands when Milla came through the door. Fighting instincts that would have him rushing forward to pull her into his arms, he leaned back against the wall behind the bar and flattened his hands behind him.

She wore a bright red jersey dress that clung to her curves, hitting just below the knee. It dipped in a low scoop across her shoulders and was held together with a long line of very small buttons down the middle from top to bottom. A pair of high-heeled pumps the exact same color of red adorned her feet. Smooth blonde hair was loose and swept carelessly over one shoulder. She reminded him of a freshly lit torch on a dark night, a shining beacon of beautiful warmth.

Looking around, taking in the scene, her eyes went wide when she saw him. Even her stride seemed frustrated as she closed the distance and leaned onto the bar, her arms spread wide, her head angled down to stare at the one of her hands.

"Milla." Her name sounded strangled coming from his lips. He swallowed and tried again to make his voice work. "You look…"

Without looking up, she filled in where words had failed him. "Ridiculous? I know. A costume. Armor. I'm told the owner here prefers flashy women."

"That is not what I was going to say." He pointed out after a beat. "I was going to say you look dressed to be undressed." He could see for himself that there was no indication of underclothes in the long, lean line of her back.

Still images of his fingers dislodging those tiny buttons carefully, one at a time, to slide his hands under them ran through his mind like an erotic slide show. He leaned back a little more firmly against his hands, still flattened against the wall behind him, closing his eyes with effort of trying to quash his impulses.

"You couldn't just leave it alone, could you?" Her husky voice was tight. So she _knew_ he had been following her…_and purposely avoided him_. But how?

"I have been called relentless, yes." He tore his eyes from her and looked intently at the shiny surface of the polished bar instead. "I would think that you, of all people, would know that."

Her eyes scanned the mirror behind him and she turned suddenly. Milla had noticed the body propped up in one of the back booths, in a darkened corner.

"Is that…?"

"Aristide Durand. I believe he was your next target."

She spun on Klaus, her eyes wide and her expression horrified. "You _killed _him?"

"I saved you the trouble."

Milla sat down on a bar stool with great care, reaching absently for an abandoned shot of whiskey. Her lovely features twisted as she downed the liquor. He'd never seen her do shots before.

"Dammit, Klaus." She groaned, covering her face with one hand. "He had information I needed. _Then_ I was going to kill him."

"What information?"

"Anyone else that helped Naaman kill my father." Her tone was matter of fact, like this was something he should already know. She was right. He did already know.

"I asked him. All of the people he named you have already killed."

"He might have lied." She groaned again with frustration.

"I compelled him. He could not have lied if he had wanted to." And the truth had cost Aristide his life.

After a moment, with her face still covered, she said, "How did you know I'd come here?"

"Izmelda Moore made a reservation for tonight at the Intercontinental Hotel in New Orleans. After she was dead." He explained, with a small smile, eyes still downcast. "After that, I was guessing about Aristide. He knew Adalene. It made sense that he would know Celeste as well. He probably changed her, actually."

"So you're here to force me to come home." Milla asked him without looking up. Her voice was small and sounded tired.

The quiet question brought his head snapping up with a sharp denial.

"Force you?" He shook his head, even at the thought. "If your wolf was out of control, then yes. But only to protect you. Not now. I can see you are yourself. I would never force you to do anything, Milla."

A blonde brow rose over those golden eyes that snapped angrily at him. "Then go home."

The words slid like a stake into his heart. She wanted rid of him. It was like hearing the same joke told for the thousandth time, knowing every time that _he _was the punchline.

He drew a deep breath, pushing past the pain of that. Her needs were why he was here, after all. "You have already killed five people. This massacre of yours…"

Her high, bitter laugh stopped him short. "A massacre? Really? How does my body count compare to yours?"

His head jerked up and back, absorbing her accusation like it was a body blow. Images of countless bodies flashed through his mind.

Caught up in memories, he didn't see her instantly remorseful expression or notice she'd swiftly rounded the bar and closed the distance between them. Small warm hands came up to frame his face.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I don't really think that of you." She whispered.

Awareness buzzed like a live wire between them, but he remained where he was, his hands balled now to fists against the wall. It worked, too, until she leaned in and kissed him, her eyes flashing to solid gold as she did.

Her lips were soft, easing the pain of sharp words with gentleness. He forgot everything in her sweetness. Arms came up and pulled her in tight. The gentleness of the kiss shifted as he did, lips and tongues colliding with force, desire making his blood sing in his veins. His hands moved over her back, from shoulder to hip, enjoying the satin feel of her. He hadn't expected to be touching her again. Ever. But, with her this close, he wouldn't deny himself.

He managed to pull away, gasping, intent on getting his plea in.

"Milla, love, please come back to Virginia." He said it as he breathed in the scent of her hair, his cheekbone resting on the crown of her golden head.

She looked up at him, already shaking her head to refuse. Before she could speak, he hoped to banish any misgivings she might have about returning. So he pushed on with what he had come prepared to say, before she could answer.

"Elena already has a room ready for you." That earned him a furrow between her brows.

Rushing on, but changing tack, he said, "Or you could stay with…" He swallowed hard and his throat worked for a second. "the Salvatores, if that is better. The brothers have moved into the house I used in Mystic Falls, years ago. Elijah remodeled it, but it was still mine. I owe them that much, at least." He explained gruffly, his stomach clenching at the confusion in her eyes.

"I don't understand." She admitted quietly.

"I'm here to tell you that…." He swallowed hard again. "just because _this_, between _us_, is over, does not mean that you are…." A ragged breath rattled out of him. "alone in this. There are still people who love you In Virginia. People who will protect you, give you a safe place to grieve. Virginia is your _home _now."

Her eyes misted as they shimmered up at him. "Over?" The one word question was a whisper.

Klaus reached to take her left hand in his. He rubbed her bare ring finger absently with his thumb before he met her gaze again.

"I killed him as surely as if I had pointed a gun and pulled the trigger." He watched the tears gather in her eyes. "Jack…" His throat closed around the pain for half a second before he could go on. "he deserved better. _You_ deserve better."

"I left my ring because I was planning to shift. I didn't want to damage it again. Because it's the most precious thing I've ever owned." She wrapped her fingers around his, holding on tight. Her husky voice rang with sincerity as golden eyes shimmered up at him.

"I headed back to Damon's place, to sift through the wreckage. I wanted a hint as to who had a hand in it. When I found the bomb remains, it had a familiar scent. The bartender at that little bar…because he touched our drinks. Things just snowballed from there. One person pointing to two more that were involved. The next pointed to another. And on it went." As she spoke, she was moving slowly closer, until her body was flush with his. "It had to be me. Were law requires justice by family. So, I was going to kill every last person responsible and come home, Klaus. To you, if you still wanted me after what I've done."

The option of not wanting her wasn't even worth commenting on to Klaus.

Klaus wrapped both arms around her and lifted her off the ground. She nestled closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. Smiling warmly into his eyes, she leaned down to kiss him.

When he finally loosened his grip, rather than move away, she slid slowly and purposely down the length of his body, making him tremble.

Tipping her face up, she smiled at him. It lit her eyes. "I have a room at the Intercontinental. Room 414." She whispered huskily.

He wrapped arms around her again and had them standing inside her hotel room within two minutes.

Before he understood what she was doing, she was pressing close enough to make the blood surge in his veins. Those beautiful lips of hers were dropping warm kisses to his whiskered jaw and his throat making his breath catch in his throat. He allowed her to nudge him toward the bed. He had missed her, missed this, to the point of feeling desperate. Milla went onto the bed and pulled him along with her, wrapping him close, her charged hands moved over him urgently. His heart thrummed insistently beneath his ribs. The moved together toward the center of the bed and he reached out to pull her over him.

As she went up to her knees, moving closer, he heard her speak quietly under her breath. Strangely, it sounded like Latin. He didn't catch all of it; just a couple of key words. Something about weight and truth.

Instantly he seemed to lose control of his entire body. Arms and legs felt weighted down by buildings. He literally couldn't move, aside from moving his head from side to side. He looked around, feeling alarmed and finally saw it. There was a small leather drawstring bag sitting in the middle of his chest. A spell bag.

"What are you doing, love?" He groaned at her as the heat in his blood drained away. His heart was pumping hard still, but now with an unfamiliar panic.

"I'm getting the truth." She withdrew from him, moving to sit with her legs crossed under her like she was waiting for something.

"You already have the truth." He gasped out raggedly. The golden eyes that watched him were cold and suspicious. "I will not lie to you. I thought we were _past_ this."

"Everybody lies. Even you." Her golden eyes narrowed further and he watched tears gather in them. She swallowed hard and looked away.

Understanding dawned, but he still tried to deny the truth. Not this. Not her. _Rendered helpless_, of all things. He'd been here before. Immobilized against his will. Betrayed by those he trusted, and this time, at the hand of the one he loved most of all. The agony of it sliced through him.

He turned and looked at his hand, lying open beside him on the bed. With all of his might he focused on simply opening and closing it. Nothing happened. It lay there, as useless as he felt, while his trepidation grew.

Meanwhile, she was saying, "I am going to kill _anyone_ who had a hand in my father's death. And I can't let anything stop me. Not even you."

Klaus had a hand in her father's death. They both knew it. "So it is my turn?"

"I just want answers." She said huskily, but Klaus felt sure he heard an unspoken _'for now'_ in her answer.

"This is how you have been getting the other names from the people you killed." He snarled, his temper building.

Anger was easier to deal with than the fear that whispered through him, so he focused on it. _So, I am a liar? Another interrogation? Another target? _

Klaus' blood surged hotly to his face with mortification. _Helpless. Vulnerable. Because I am a complete fool and trusted her- believing she forgave, loved and wanted me_, he thought.

He was only a means to an end. Just like Jackson Howell at the bar, the one she'd come on to like a "bitch in heat". She'd done exactly the same thing to him. All of it was a lie to get him here. The agony of that realization twisted inside him as it blended with the anxiety and impotent fury he was already grappling with.

He felt sick inside as something else occurred to him. "Did you tear those people apart while they were helpless, like this?" _Was that her plan now?_ His stomach clenched at the thought, not of the physical damage she could do, but of how much her just trying would hurt him.

Her jaw set at the accusation, her face losing its color.

"No. I didn't." She muttered as she withdrew further, going to stand on the other side of the room, against the door.

He turned his head to look at her, infuriated by her silence.

"Well?" He rumbled at her, "What are you waiting for? Ask your damnable questions!"

"It takes a minute to kick in." Her face was white. Her eyes narrowed and hard.

"In the meantime, I will be sitting here waiting while you shred my guts with the cold steel in your eyes." He roared automatically. He blinked, confused as he looked around him. He'd been thinking that, but hadn't intended to say it out loud.

"There it goes." Milla muttered grimly from across the room.

_What, the hell, has she done?_ He thought.

A moment later he said, "What the hell have you done?" He gasped at his own furious question. _I am saying aloud everything I think._

"My god. I am saying everything I think." _And I cannot seem to stop._

"And I cannot make it stop."

She nodded, her expression hard and detached, as she approached the bed cautiously. "That's the idea. Only truth. It tends to have a stream of consciousness effect after awhile."

"Ask, then, damn you." He finally roared at her. "If truth is so important to you that you will betray me for it, then have it."

She cleared her throat, going starkly white.

"Did you ask Aristide if there was anyone else involved in how my father died before you killed him?"

"I did." He growled, his eyes flashing indignantly over her.

"And what did he say?" She crossed her arms over her chest, coming to stand next to him.

"He gave me three names. Izmelda Moore, Chase Tanner and the bartender in Virginia, Howell." The furious words came out of him on breaths of building rage, forced from his lips whether he wanted them to come or not. His lips drew back against his teeth in a furious grimace. "Just as I told you. People you have already killed."

"He might have lied." She turned to pace angrily away.

"No." His certainty rang in his deep voice. "He had no choice in the matter. I forced the truth from him with compulsion." Fury swept him with each word he ground out. "Just as I told you, already, Milla."

"Satisfied?" He rumbled at her when she fell silent.

She lifted a small shoulder and dropped it in a sad, meaningless shrug.

"Then _let me go_." He knew his eyes were red now. It felt like ages since he'd been so angry.

Milla moved quickly to his side and carefully lifted the spell bag from his chest.

Immediately he stood, pushed past her and headed for the door. She intercepted him there, reaching out. Klaus snatched his hand away as she came close, swinging it up and out of her grasp.

"I need for you not to touch me." He whispered menacingly as he noticed that the red ring around his vision was actually pulsing. It turned the plush white carpet at his feet blood red and made it seem to breathe with him.

_I need away from here. Now, _he was the last rational thought he owned and it echoed in him as he grappled for control. He could not, _would not_, hurt her. But distance was the only way he could know he would keep her safe.

"I…." He recognized distantly that her voice was thick with pain in just that one word. He lost his battle for control as betrayal, shame and the agony of her rejection melded together, becoming a pounding need to hit back. He lashed out, using the truth as he saw it, rather than the violence that rolled through him.

"You used the way I feel about you as a weapon tonight. Lied about the contents of your heart to leverage mine against me." He was standing with his hand on the doorknob, statue still and staring blindly at the floor. "Do you know who does that?"

When she didn't speak, he answered his own question, never bothering to look at her. "Me. Who I was. _It seems we are more alike than I ever imagined._" The words were harsh, spoken through clenched teeth. Releasing a ragged breath, he hoped to dispel some of the anguish. It was wasted effort.

"I know I am to blame for all of this. When my name floats to the top of your list, and it will, come see me. I will be waiting. In the meantime, I hope you find your truth to be good company." His last words for her were calm and quiet, a stark foil for the fury lining his face.

Klaus didn't look up, so he didn't see her shattered expression. Moving stiffly, he turned the knob, opened the door and closed it carefully behind him.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Three days later Milla rubbed swollen eyes with the back of one hand. They felt white-hot. She'd been driving east almost constantly for two days and barely slept. More than once she found herself reaching for her phone to call her dad to ask for advice. He understood people so well, after years of diplomacy as a pack leader. _He_ would know how to make this right.

Milla's chest rang with the hollow ache she'd come to expect merely at the thought of her father. She'd never understood that grief could become actual physical pain. This would swallow her completely if she gave it half a chance. It stole her breath, the hollowness, for a moment that seemed to stretch forever.

Wallowing in a cavern of pain wasn't possible right now. She had to get to home. The irony of it was that she had spent a week luring people away from their lives and now she was fighting to keep her own.

Milla gave in to her wolf, giving her free reign during this "massacre" as Klaus had called it. And her wolf was howling for blood. The injustice of losing her father required immediate vengeance in her wolf's eyes. Since Naaman was unavailable, she would kill everyone else involved, saving the best for last.

At that point, Milla realized that involving Klaus would be a mistake. He would kill them all for her, leaving justice unserved. Were law required that she be the one to make this right. There was no way he would stand by and let her do that.

There was also the problem of getting the truth out of people who would likely lie. Since she'd forgotten her phone, she bought a burner phone and called Neyla, thankful that she remembered phone numbers so well.

"I need a favor." She told her friend and quickly explained.

Neyla laughed. "I thought you would want something difficult. I was learning to make spells like this in grade school. I have all I need right here. I'll bring it to you."

Just as simple as that, Milla had a spell that would hold someone and force the truth out of them. But even that had its limits. It was only good for about eight tries. After that, it would be touch and go.

Jackson Howell was an easy, clueless target. The bomb builder, with his scent all over the bomb remains. To bait him, she'd forced herself to flirt and entice, which was especially hard. The only way she got through it was by pretending it was Klaus, so it seemed natural and heartfelt.

Izmelda Moore had sold Naaman a four hundred year old strip of leather armor. It carried some of Klaus' blood from a battle centuries ago. Milla hadn't really grasped how famous Klaus was within the community until she understood exactly how valuable this artifact was considered. Someone had actually stored away some of his blood centuries ago, intending to make a weapon against him. Naaman had given the witch enough cash for it to pay off her house. But she'd not lived long enough to make that last payment. That fight made Milla more cautious with witches. Her adversary had been powerful enough to throw empty train cars at her.

Maddox Kirk, a werewolf and friend of Izmelda, was involved in the deal to purchase explosives. Milla found him working the door at a nightclub and she'd led him away easily, offering company for the night. His last words before he had died had been a simple "What _the hell_ are you?" because she'd shifted when there was no full moon before she tore him apart in the woods.

When the Were bouncer was dead, Milla's wolf began to dance under her skin. A scrabbling happy feeling that brought her to a sharp halt, trying to understand. She was accustomed to her wolf's anger, blood lust, and urgency. But this was something else entirely. It took a few minutes to comprehend the animal. Her wolf now had one focus. _Mate_.

Her wolf could sense when her mate was close and was scrambling under her skin with joy. Evidently wolves didn't stand or formality. Her wolf cared not one bit about ceremonies or labels. Klaus was her mate. Period.

Her father had mentioned a mate bond between two Weres, but she hadn't really paid much attention. It wasn't something Jack had experienced because Milla's mother had never activated her curse. But he had talked about how powerful it could be from what other pack members experienced. Since Milla hadn't intended to mate, the information felt unimportant at the time.

Now everything was different. Klaus must've followed her. Intending to stop her and probably drag her back by her hair if necessary. She didn't feel like she had any other choice but to run since she had more targets now. Disappearing proved the best answer, using the bouncer's car and fighting her wolf's instincts all the way. The animal eventually calmed down as she put distance between herself and Arkansas.

In San Antonio, Milla spent hours dancing on a bar wearing a formfitting leather vest that left her midriff bare, cut off denim shorts and turquoise western boots. The male witch that was her next target was a walking clique that made her nose curl. She'd managed to learn that he was a Texas publishing executive named Chase Tanner with a weakness for cowgirls. He had given Naaman the instructions for a spell that would give him insight into Klaus, allowing him to be easily targeted. He'd lost his life for that reason.

Robert Kirk was the last. A brother to the bouncer in Arkansas and also a Were. Robert had delivered the explosives to Jackson Howell personally nearly two weeks ago. He worked as a male model part time. She watched his habits and simply slipped into his home after dark. He was waiting for her, thinking she was an overeager admirer. The result was a nasty fight, a wrecked house and a body. But she got what she needed. The source of it all. Aristide Durand, lover to Celeste Broussard.

She'd been working to push her wolf's excitement down when she walked into The Dagger's Tip. The wolf was scabbling under her skin again, telling Milla that Klaus was close. Her sole purpose was to find Durand, ask him some pointed questions and kill him. She could get in and out in an hour, even if Klaus was close and be gone before he knew he'd missed her. At least that was what she was hoping for.

Finding Klaus in that bar, her wolf had nearly gone wild. She knew her eyes would be solid gold, so she kept them down, away from him. He'd know instantly that something was wrong. The battle with herself, along with her wolf, was taking all of her control.

Frustration made her say things she didn't mean. It made Klaus' pain rippled around him, like a stone dropped into a still pond. Because of her. Because of what she'd said. Before she even knew what she was doing, she was in his arms, telling him everything. But he'd also killed Aristide, making himself the only source of information for anyone else that might've been involved. And he would do anything to stop her. She had believed that with all of her heart.

Her memories kept flashing the look on Klaus' face when he understood what she'd done, how she'd stripped him of everything. All for the sake of revenge. Images of his expressive eyes during his slow boil to fury made the hollowness inside her echo. It was more than that she had injured him with her lack of trust. Milla also felt the powerful, terrible hand of very real fear coming off Klaus. It was wrapped around him, coiling tightly like it would strangle him. She had done that. Made her fearless love afraid. Using magic against him, to overpower him, was the worst possible thing she could have done. She didn't understand that before.

Klaus left her standing in that hotel room without a backward glance. She had no idea where he would go, but she felt drawn homeward. So that was where she would go, in a stolen car, filling her tank with stolen credit cards. In the beginning it felt like justice, letting the people who killed her father bankroll her revenge. Now that the lust for blood burned itself out, it felt dangerous and reckless.

Klaus was good, kind and loving. But he was also a proud man. And she'd made a fool of him, or at least that's how he would see it. One moment he's promising he would never force her to do anything against her will. In nearly the next moment, she's doing exactly that to him. _There might not be a way to fix this, _she thought in despair.

Her burning eyes filled again, for the hundredth time, and the tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she drove. A simply apology would never be enough for what she'd done. He might never trust her again, even if he could forgive. And who would blame him?

She'd destroyed everything important in her need for vengeance. Regret made her throat ache and her stomach clench. How was she ever going to make this right?

In the middle of her dark cloud of despair a dim light, hope, flickered. An idea. Her skin grew cold just at the thought. It felt like a terrible risk. But it just might work. There was a chance it might be enough. If it wasn't, she could lose everything. Something low in her belly clenched again, harder this time. She loved Klaus; would always love him. But he didn't believe that. Thought she was a liar. Again, she couldn't blame him. But the risk…she had to take it. Had to try to show him.

Hours later, after midnight Milla found Klaus in their place. He sat on their bench, his head hung low. He was in mourning. She could sense it in the air around him; taste anguish on the wind. Her heart wept. The thing she had done had broken him.

Milla sat next to him, careful not to touch him, without making a sound. The memory of the threatening whisper from him about not touching him echoed inside her.

He didn't move or speak. He showed no sign of being aware of her presence, but she knew already that he was. After a few moments of stillness, he spoke, still studying the ground beneath his feet.

"I did not expect to see you here again so soon." His voice was tight and quiet, thick with pain. "I am ready for you, though." He reached into the lining of his coat and withdrew a long sharp nearly white wooden stake, moving to lay it between them.

"What is this?" Her skin prickled and went cold just looking at it.

"The only thing in existence that will truly kill me." He whispered, his voice still tight. "It is made from the tree my mother used to cast her spell, making me…" He paused, his hand opening and closing uselessly while he watched it. "what I am."

"Well,_ I_ don't want it." She scooted further away, distancing herself from the horrible object as her eyes misted with helpless tears. Her heart rammed itself up to the back of her throat, choking her. He thought she was here to kill him for her father's death and was making a gift of the only way to accomplish that. So she could feel that justice for her father was complete. _Even now, he was giving. Up to and including his life._

He liked to say he didn't deserve her. Milla was beginning to understand the reality of the situation. It was the other way around. The tears she'd been struggling to hold back rolled silently down her cheeks.

His gaze swung immediately to her face, to search it. It looked like he was struggling to understand her, with his head cocked to one side like he always did when she confused him. His eyes….they were nearly black, rather than the jeweled denim color she was used to seeing. They were also splotched and swollen. He had been crying. Her heart broke a little more as regret clawed at it.

Under the weight of that look, she reached into her own pocket and laid a small piece of paper on the bench between them. He watched her and, when she pulled away, he picked it up, stopping to read it. Questions lit his eyes as he scanned her face again.

"I have it in my left pocket. Read that out loud." She looked away at the shadows, dark dread stealing her breath.

Instead, he said, "Why?" With just that one word, he conveyed his total bafflement.

She didn't turn to look at him again. It hurt too much. And her heart was racing out of her chest while she waited for the ax to fall.

"Ask me after you've said the words. So you'll know you can trust my answer."

His deep voice spoke the words in Latin perfectly and Milla's hands fell immediately to her sides. The weight against them and her legs was nearly unbearable. Her head snapped back, all strength lost as it dangled over the back of the bench seat. She felt weighted down, useless and vulnerable sitting there.

He moved instantly, lifting her with careful hands and supporting her head. He tucked her against his chest for a second and sank his face into her hair on a deep breath, like he couldn't help himself. The tenderness in the gesture made her throat work. After a moment she felt rustling and movement she didn't understand. Eventually she realized he was laying her out gently on the tall, soft grass. The care he took with her made her eyes fill again with tears.

It was like lying on that jungle floor before, when he'd drained her and sat down to watch her die. She was defenseless again. The thought made her heart triple in speed.

"Is it working yet?" He asked softly as he finally sat down next to her and crossed his legs under him.

Milla drew a deep, shuddering breath. "I don't know. Ask me something I wouldn't normally answer."

Klaus' still dark eyes pierced hers. "Tell me what you miss most about your pack."

She always dodged questions about her childhood. It hurt too much to remember. Abruptly her eyes filled with tears again and the answer rolled out of her against her will.

"Jasper." She breathed and watched Klaus' expression grow wary. But he only waited for her to go on. Milla looked away, up at the patterns the tree limbs and branches above her made against the moonlit sky as she explained.

"We played together as kids. When I got sick everyone acted like I was breakable. Not him. He would come to my house with his toys and sit on my bed with me while we played. Even when I was too sick to even sit up. He was only a few months older and a total misfit, like me. We both lived in the shadow of the pack. Together." She drew a shaky breath, images of her friend dancing in her mind. She'd refused even to think of him for a couple of years.

"You loved him." There was a bleakness in his deep voice.

Klaus always made statements rather than asking questions because he thought he already knew the answer. The spell worked anyway. It forced Milla to answer the implied question she heard.

She gasped before words rolled out of her again. "Not like you mean. He was a brother. A friend. I just never got to say goodbye."

"Why come here and offer me this?" He asked finally, after a moment of silence.

"Because I took from you." She told him. "I can't undo that. Take it back. I cost you your pride at the least. So I came to offer you mine. Blood for blood."

"This is about honor, then." He muttered without looking up. She saw, from his profile, that his lips had taken on a bitter twist. He reached down to snatch angrily at a blade of grass with a thumb and finger.

"Do you love me at all?" Klaus asked her after an uncomfortable silence. He still hadn't looked up.

"Desperately." She whispered as fresh tears rolled down the sides of her face to wet her hair. The spell didn't have to force the answer from her. This was the question she'd been wishing for; hoping it would still matter to him, even after what she'd done.

Klaus' gaze swung swiftly to her face. She watched for herself as his eyes shifted to blue again and went wide. Without another word, he reached deftly into her jacket pocket and removed the spell bag that was holding her down. But Milla failed to notice. She was staring, transfixed, into those expressive eyes of his, the ones that were speaking so eloquently and making her heart pound. The fear that he'd never look at her that way again melted away like a spring snow under warm sunlight.

He reached again to gather her to him, tucking her tightly to his chest, to his heart. Her ribs creaked against the pressure, but she gladly ignored it.

Milla was sputtering on, words rolling out of her under the warmth in his eyes. "All I could think about was killing all of them. I thought it would make the pain stop." A small sob shook her. "I just wanted to stop hurting. More killing, doing _something_, felt like the answer. I thought you would do _anything_ to stop me, even lie." She shook her head at her own stupidity.

"I didn't understand what using that spell would do to you. How it would make you feel. But I _didn't lie_. About why I took off the ring. And of course I don't blame you for what happened. _How could I?_ I was always coming back. I love you. _I'm so sorry. _Can you ever forgive me?" Eventually she was speaking brokenly into his shirt while she hung on.

He leaned back when she ran out of steam and pushed her hair back from her face. His blue eyes sparkled with quiet joy.

"Silly girl. If you love me, I will gladly _give_ you _whatever_ _you want_, _forgive_ you _anything_." He tucked her again to his heart with a smile that made her heart thump awkwardly.

"The only thing I really want is your heart." She smiled up at him, her heart in her eyes. Heartache and despair were only a memory.

"You owned that from the first moment I saw you. The only question I have left is -what took you so long?"

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A week later Milla met Klaus at the front door as he got home. She took his hand with a tiny smile and led him up the stairs to their bedroom.

"What is it, love?" He asked. Worry had creased his brow.

She sat down next to him on the edge of the bed.

"Do you trust me?" She asked the question with her eyes shining love up at him.

"Of course." He told her easily.

She scooted a little closer and put a hand to his cheekbone, forcing his eyes to meet hers.

"No. Really. Do you trust me?"

"Yes, Milla. I really do." He meant it. He knew beyond any doubt that she loved him. The events of the last weeks had given him that, at least.

She moved to the center of the bed and patted it, asking him with her gesture to meet her there. He did and she leaned in close to kiss him. She muttered something he recognized now and Klaus found himself flat on his back again. His arms and legs, entire body actually, felt weighted down as it had before. The familiar spell bag sat in the middle of his chest again.

"I do not understand." He covered his rising anxiety with a hard swallow. But Milla didn't miss it.

Milla sat beside him on the bed and took his hand. She saw that now familiar flash in his eyes. It was panic. She'd seen it once before and it broke her heart all over again. Cradling his immobile hand in hers, she ran gentle fingers over it, trailing them slowly up his arm.

"You have given me something. A lesson. A gift. Now I want to give it back to you. Because I think you need it, too." She leaned down and pressed a warm kiss to the palm of his hand.

Klaus was watching her, his eyes brimming with uncertainty.

"A gift?" His voice was gruff. She could hear tension in the tightness of his words.

Feeling helpless was the problem. Milla understood from that first moment using the spell in that awful hotel room that this made him afraid. Her dauntless immortal had a phobia. One she'd exposed, shaming him.

She lifted his hand and pressed the back of it to her cheek, turning to meet his eyes. She put all of her heart into that look.

"I've spent years fighting for control." She kissed each of his knuckles gently. "But you have taught me that sometimes, with the right person, surrender is freedom."

Milla saw his eyes flash at that, understanding beginning to dawn.

"I know that this makes you uncomfortable. I'm thinking that someone took control of you. Hurt you." She was whispering gruffly and watched the fast play of emotions across his face confirm it.

She'd never push for details because she knew she'd probably rip someone apart if he ever told her. Her blood roared in her veins just at the thought, her wolf letting out a low growl of agreement that only she could hear. She'd probably go to the ends of the earth to demolish whoever might have hurt him this much…this way.

"I stumbled over this, like an idiot. But I think that I can show you that you're safe with me. This isn't something we'll have another opportunity for. That spell is only good a few times and it's probably already fading. But I wanted to take this thing that upsets you and make a gift of it." She turned and rested her hands on his chest. "If you'll let me."

It rose and fell under them with his breathing, the rhythm beneath his ribs only slightly faster than normal. That was more than she'd hoped for. She let her hands spread out over his broad chest, a slow caress through the layer of his shirt.

"If, at any time, you want me to stop, you only have to say so and I will. So, really, the control is still yours." Her lips twisted to a crooked smile. "It will, of course, also have to be the truth, though, because of the spell. Or you won't be able to say it."

He flashed a cautious smile at her and chuckled a little. She knew his sharp mind would see her loving trap for what it was. Relief at his humor lightened her mood. Uncertainty about how he'd feel about her plan was a heavy weight she'd been carrying for days.

"Only a wicked woman would take advantage of a helpless man, love." He told her through a small smile.

She moved to one side and began to work the buttons of his shirt. "I think I can manage wicked. Just this once. For you." Milla spoke softly, her eyes moving longingly over him.

The look she gave him made his smile fade away. She watched the heat erupt in his eyes as if he'd just lit a bonfire.

"Before you touch me much more, I need to be kissing you." He rasped the words out, drawing her upward to meet his lips with just his tone. Their mouths collided like before, both of them hot and hungry. He let out a growl of frustration when she pulled slowly away, teasing his lips with hers.

_Klaus felt overwhelmed with a swell of love for Milla, even stronger than the initial panic he felt at the first signs of the spell. This was about giving and comfort. She was determined to meet his anxiety with her love._

_He watched her hungrily as she slowly, and with great care, stripped away his clothes – thinking of all the ways he wanted to be touching her. She opened the buttons of his short-sleeved shirt, slipping those small fingers under the material as she left it under him. Her hands moved in gentle patterns, tracing the edges of muscle and bone. Every caress set off a new lightning storm across his nerve endings, stealing his breath from his lungs on strangled gasps._

_The tension that went with being immobile slowly began to fade. Somehow, being here, completely in the grip of her hands amplified his desire and quelled the raging need to get away that he'd experienced before. She might as well have been a witch…or a siren, he decided. This time she was using an entirely different kind of spell._

Although he didn't move, she felt muscles draw tight and ripple under her fingertips. A slow flush began to spread across smooth skin as more and more of him was exposed. Every move she made was slow, gentle and careful.

His reaction was anything but. He gasped and hissed, his breath rattling out of him while his heart slammed like a piston against the inside of his chest. A sheen of sweat had gathered on his skin. After a few kisses across his throat, down his chest, he let out a strangled groan and started to mutter.

Milla only understood English and a little French, so she couldn't be sure. But the low pitched stream of words coming from him seemed like a long line of expletives. It sounded like he was swearing under his breath, fluidly and vehemently, in at least four languages that she could identify. His jeweled blue eyes either watched her hungrily or closed on a ragged sigh.

Her plan was to kiss every square inch of him, but she wasn't sure she could last that long. Her hands were already starting to tremble with need. When she moved away, he let out a long low growl of frustration that sounded very much like his wolf. Biting back a smile, she stepped a little further away and slowly stripped away her clothes. His breathing got deeper and faster as he watched her.

When she joined him again, she pressed herself to his side, one thigh propped over one of his, one hand gently trailing over him. His breath hitched in his chest as he closed his eyes, angling his face upward. He started to mutter again, his voice husky and deep. Foreign sounding curses rolled off his tongue.

Her hand trailed down, touching him low for the first time. She was surprised when his entire body jerked abruptly and grew still again. Either the spell _was_ weakening or Klaus really was just that strong.

"Are you okay?" She asked against one of his ribs.

"I am pretty sure you are going to kill me." He answered on a strangled groan before he turned a smile on her.

"The whole point is to convince you I would never….." She groaned with laughing frustration.

"I will die a happy man." His tone was conciliatory and his features settled to a brave face to illustrate that, before he smiled at her warmly again.

"Not today, you won't. Today you'll have to settle for just being happy." She told him as she swept the spell bag off his chest with a careless hand.

His face lit with a gleaming smile and he moved impossibly fast, sitting up and wrapping both arms around her. He pulled her across his lap and went about touching and kissing her in all the ways he'd been thinking about. When she was gasping as much as he was, he moved her over him, centered her hips and lowered them over his. After a moment of stillness, she saw a flash of white teeth before he sank them into her, at her throat. Milla spiraled into a rippling release that took him with her. The two of them shaking together in the aftermath.

When she had enough breath to speak, lying across his chest, she asked, "Were you swearing?"

Her whole body shook with his laugh. She turned to look at him and he was covering his face with one hand. She pulled the concealing hand carefully away. Under it, his face was hotly flushed. For some reason, he was actually embarrassed.

Her efforts got her a wry smile from him.

"Yes. Curses. The worst and most vile, from all over the world. Bad enough to make a Viking sailor blush like an English school girl." His half smile, tinged with self-deprecation made her heart pound with warmth and love for him.

"Why?" She leaned up and kissed him, his lips twitching to a smile while she did.

"When I am under…" He grinned again, pulling her to his chest so he didn't have to look her in the eyes. "tremendous strain, that is where my mind goes. The stream of consciousness effect of your spell exposed it. No one has ever heard that, but you."

Milla chuckled and pressed a kiss to his chest.

"Elijah strategizes. Picks a path for his next move when things become tense. Me? I am not so intellectual. I swear like a street thug." The pitch of his voice dropped as a shoulder rose and fell in a shrug as he explained himself.

Milla absorbed that, smiling before she leaned up to look at him again. She'd only seen him in a fight a few times. She couldn't help but wonder…..

"So, when you fought Naaman?" She waited.

Niklaus half-smiled, nodding. "Swearing."

"How many languages?" The time and sheer effort that would take astounded her. She was shaking her head, smiling warmly.

"All of them I have come across. I tend to catalog things in my head. I collected colorful language like it was treasure for centuries." His smile twisted again, showing her his discomfort with admitting all of this to her. He seemed to see this as a flaw in his character. One that no one else knew about.

"I think it's adorable." She leaned up to put a hand on either side of his face and kissed him before she eased away with a smile. "But, you know, now I'm always going to wonder if your stressed enough to be swearing in your head."

He pulled her to his chest again. "You only have to ask and I will tell you."

"I love you." She told him, running her fingertips over a bare shoulder, tracing the ridges of a sloping muscle.

"I love you, too, Milla." He leaned back and met her eyes. "And I swear to you.." He flashed a crooked grin as he paused, using that word again. "I will kill Naaman for what he has done."

Milla's eyes misted with tears, the same way they always did when she thought of her father. She wondered if she'd ever be able to think of him, remember, and feel happy again. She spent years standing with her dad's loving support. Now that he was gone, she felt lost and wondered if she'd ever feel right again. Remembering the gentle smile her dad was wearing when she found him gave her a sense that he was at peace, but the ache of loss, the hollow feeling still haunted her.

"I believe you." She told Klaus as he reached up gently with a thumb to wipe one of her stray tears away. "Considering he's basically declared war on all of us, I think we're going to get lots and lots of volunteers with that. _Everyone_ is howling for blood. And all of us working together will make for a pretty powerful army." She forced a smile to her lips, but it felt stiff and uncertain.

Milla couldn't help but worry that there might be more losses ahead of them, even if she did believe that they would win, in the end.

Klaus nodded his agreement, his eyes serious. "I have come up against that 'army' myself. I can tell you, I do not envy Naaman what he has coming to him."

He had witnessed the glitter of fury in her eyes when she surmised that his discomfort with being immobilized was because someone had done that to him before and done damage. He'd never tell her the people she loved most were responsible for the anxiety that caused him.

He knew he deserved exactly what he got that day, so long ago. But the ripples of it had carried out, effecting him decades later. In her loving hands, the sharpness of that anxiety had faded, allowing him to see that he could trust her enough to be vulnerable with her. For the first time, he felt _safe_ with someone.

_Freedom in surrender_. What a surprising beautiful concept. It was an idea he would never have considered, if not for Milla.

**The End**

**But not really. There's a villain to kill, after all. :)**


End file.
